Startled, Blair went mute for a moment. She couldn't grasp the idea of her pretending to be this man's bride.
'Does that mean, like a fiancee? Like, what I was with Dante?' she thought.
She realized that she was trying to stay away from being tied up to someone, then there she went jumping straight into another trap. Well, someone's trap.
But on second thought, it might not be that bad. As the man said, she would just have to pretend to be his bride. So, it didn't mean that she would be tied up forever with him. Not like with Dante; there would be no way for her to get out from that.
She could actually go with that. But then again, who was this man she was playing pretend with?
Blair glanced back at him. She was feeling relaxed enough at last and had finally decided to sit down.
The man smiled, satisfied with how she reacted. He knew that she was considering his offer; there was a big chance she would agree to his proposal.
"Uhm, could you give me a few days to think about it? Well, you know, we are making a deal here, and it should probably be right that I have to know you at least, right?" she explained, and he nodded.
"I am not that impatient kind of person, love. Of course, I could give you two nights to sleep that over."
Blair smiled, relieved. Two nights. That was plenty of time to think of something different if needed.
"With that, let me welcome you, first and foremost, as an important guest to my castle." The man stood up and nodded at her, gesturing her to follow.
Blair trailed behind him and couldn't help to notice how attractive he looked from behind while staring at his bum. He didn't only have such a perfect front feature. His back was quite interesting as well.
While Blair wasn’t sure who the man was, much less his age, she thought that he looked a bit more mature than her.
While following him, her mind wandered towards his physical appearance. Although he looked like he was in his twenties, his eyes and the way he spoke was way more profound, making him more attractive. His charm looked ageless.
Blair shook herself away from her thoughts as they ambled towards a staircase then turned into a hallway.
She felt like she was in a museum. While she had never been to an exhibition, walking down the hallways gave the same impression.
There was an array of old portraits on the walls, alternating the doors. Most of the people in those portraits looked just like the man she was following. They adorned clothing that seemed like they came from a different point of history.
'They must be his ancestors,' she guessed.
Finally, he opened one of the doors, exposing a spacious room. A flesh-colored curtain, decorating almost every corner of that room, making it look elegant. Fresh flowers were on the bedside table and there was a sophisticated bed with a canopy and a sheer curtain dripping modestly to each side.
She was amazed by the view. Undoubtedly she was inside a castle after all. It made her think again and got more curious. Who was this man?
And without stalling, she asked, "If I have to be your pretend fiancee, I should probably have the right to at least know your name.".
"Lucien Bardot," without any fuss, he said.
"Lucien Bardot?" Blair repeated his name as something about it seemed to be familiar to her. Something like she had heard before.
"Yes, that's my name, Lucien Bardot. You can take a rest now and see you in the morning," he walked out of the door, leaving Blair filled with thoughts.
Blair sure heard of him before. She just had to remember. Slowly, she sat on the bed, with her mind still somewhere else.
Until there was some spark-like flicker inside her head, a sudden clarity from her hazy thoughts— a lightbulb moment.
"I knew it," she mumbled. “Shit, he is Lucien Bardot? The infamous Lucien Bardot? The vampire prince?"
Blair gasped as she covered her mouth. She began to fidget restlessly.
"Oh my word, what have I gotten myself into?" She stood up from her bed, feeling uneasy and antsy. She was undoubtedly in big trouble.
He was not just simply a human. He was a vampire.
Blair wanted to pinch herself hard to wake herself up from that nightmare, and then she thought again. He wasn't just a vampire. For god sake, he was a vampire prince.
It would have even been better if he was at least a good vampire. But as Blair heard, he was the youngest of the family and not to mention the wild card. His father couldn't even control him.
Well, so much of that being the wild card, he must be evil.
Blair, wrapped herself in her arms as she paced restlessly around the room. She felt the goosebumps rise on her entire body. It seemed that Blair was in a far worse situation than she had been. She started to doubt if she had been deciding everything in the wrong way.
She was not simply jumping out of the pan and landing into the fire. She had done more than that.
Blair was damned.
She took a deep breath to calm herself.
She made it out from her pack. There was no way not to make it out from that place too.
Deep down, Blair knew she could get herself out of the vampire’s clutches and hopefully find another place. Somewhere far enough from this evil residence and her pack.
Somewhere, where most humans lived.
That was where she could be truthfully free. No fiances, no fear of getting married, even if it was just a pretense or not.
Well, humans might be less scary than her kind and the vampires. After all, they were not as strong as them. Maybe she could find a less stressful life being in there than with these creatures.
She stared over her reflection in the vanity mirror and talked to herself, "Yes, I absolutely must escape from here."
Blair had decided. If she had escaped from one place, she could definitely do it again.