A few days since her attempted drowning passed pretty quick and Thalia seemed to be hovering around her a bit more. Having tea or just walking together. The first day after the drowning incident was hell, apparently there was still water in her lungs the first 2 days and they needed to take procedures to make sure she didn't get pneumonia. Now she was sitting on a chair made of wood with plants surrounding it, Mathew had gone through the trouble of organizing this so he could paint her. She felt a little weird having to sit for a long time but since he used a smaller canvas and acrylic paint for this occasion it wouldn't be too long. Every time he looked at her he had a rosy hue on his cheeks and he would shyly hide behind the canvas. She thought it was adorable. "You won't get much detail if you don't look at me a little longer." She teased. He burned bright red. "Yes…." He whispered as he looked at her again, a little longer this time. She laughed at his reaction and he chuckled softly, he liked that she was a playful person, he was worried she would be stuck up like the young ladies in other families. Thalia walked around the garden looking for Lilith, "I know she likes being outside…where is she?"she thought, she heard soft laughter and she hid behind some bushes. As she peaked through the bushes she saw Lilith sitting on a chair decorated to look like a throne with flowers propped next to the willow tree. She looked further to the left and saw Mathew happily painting Lilith, she had never seen the painter look so comfortable and happy before. "She's his muse?" She thought, feeling slightly offended. "How could he pick her over me? I'm obviously the better option, even Vincent and Cyrus prefer me over her." She thought. Lilith turned to look in her direction and her heart dropped, "There's no way she can see me, i'm hiding in the bushes and I haven't made any noise." She thought as a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead. "Is that Thalia? Why is she hiding in the bushes? I can see her feet…" Lilith thought as she looked at the bushes. Mathew sighed in satisfaction, "All I need now is to see the color of your eyes closely if that's fine with you..my lady." He said as he looked at her hopeful. "Alright." Lilith said, he stood up from his stool and walked over to her, bending down to see the way the light reflected off her lilac eyes. From Thalias angle it looked like they were kissing. "Oh my god…they…they are having an affair…" she thought wide eyed. She smiled and ran off as quietly as she could. He observed her eyes attentively, he could swear there were diamonds hidden in her eyes. "You're a handsome young man." She said out of nowhere. His blush went down to his neck and he cleared his throat, "T-Thank you…" he said as he started painting her eyes in detail. She sighed, if he had stayed that close any longer she's sure he would have tried to kiss her which is why she told him he was handsome, she knew that would make him back away, "Maybe it was a bad idea to let him paint me, I don't want to end up hurting his feelings." She thought. Natalie seemed to think so as well as she watched them. "It's a good thing Natalie and the girls are here as my witnesses, if not it would be hard to contradict what Thalia thinks she saw." She thought. "I'm done my lady.." he said, Lilith rushed over to see it and was amazed with the attention to detail, he made it look like she was a princess sitting on a flower throne. He painted her with dignity and power in her eyes. "This is how he sees me?" She thought. Natalie smiled as she looked it over, the girls were happily pointing out details in the painting. "My lady you look exactly the same." Betty said comparing her to the portrait. Lilith smiled as she patted their heads. As Mathew started picking his supplies up, the girls left to go back inside since they got hungry. Vincent read a book while his mother worked on some documents. They heard the door open slowly and Thalia came in sadly and sat down, looking at each other confused the duchess questioned her. "What is wrong sweetie?" The duchess asked, Vincent looked at her expectantly too. She sighed deeply. "Lady Lilith is having an affair with the painter.." Thalia said in a tearful tone. Vincent stood abruptly with anger written on his face. The duchess eyes opened wide, and she didn't know how to react, Vincent stormed out to look for Lilith and the duchess took a deep breath hoping he wouldn't do anything stupid. "Thalia, how do you know?" The duchess asked. "I saw them kissing by the willow tree." Thalia said. "You are completely positive you saw them kissing?" The duchess asked, she was doubtful that Lilith would do something like that. "Yes, I was watching from the bushes, and from the angle I was at I could see them kiss." She said. "The angle you were at? So you didn't see their lips pressed together?" The duchess asked trying to find reason and hoping it was just a misunderstanding. "No…but I promise I know they were kissing." Thalia said tearful. The duches rubbed her forehead. "Alright, we'll deal with this quietly." She said, "If my husband finds out who knows what he'll do." The duchess said and ran after Vincent. The girls were bickering over who liked Sebastian more and Lilith laughed at how serious they were about it. She heard stomping and she looked up to see Vincent angrily walking towards them, she could almost see the fire in his eyes. They stopped and the girls hid behind Natalie. "How dare you! You are having an affair with the painter!? I thought you were different from the rumors, but I can see now, that is exactly who you are! A good for nothing whore!" He exclaimed. The girls mouths dropped open, Lilith saw red and before she knew it she had punched him with an uppercut so hard he elevated a bit off the floor and knocked out on the grass. She glared at him from where she stood, and she heard gasps from behind her. Cyrus and the duchess both saw and horror appeared on their faces. Lilith was still fuming and Betty fainted in shock of seeing her attack the young master and leave him out cold. The duchess ran faster. "Vincent!" She yelled as she knelt beside him. Lilith was glaring at him as two guards grabbed her arms and tried to drag her away. She pulled her arms out aggressively. "I'll walk." She said angrily and followed them as they kept their hands to themselves. Natalie and Melinda ran after Lilith, Melinda pulling the lifeless body of Betty along with her by the ankle. Vincent woke up and tasted a little bit of blood in his mouth, the duchess and Thalia crying at his side and Cyrus laughing like a maniac so hard he had tears bursting out of his eyes and he doubled over falling on the grass. Vincent was still in shock as he sat there quietly. "I….what happened?" He asked confused which made Vincent laugh even harder. The duchess sighed in relief that he woke up, "you fool, you were yelling at Lilith saying vulgar things about her and she punched you…I heard it all the way over there…" she said as she remembered the way Lilith expertly knocked her son out. She suddenly started to giggle, "son..she got you so good.." she said as she began laughing. He blushed in embarrassment and as he looked around he saw a few knights whispering as they laughed, when he saw Richard, he had a satisfied look on his face as he walked after the guards that took Lilith. He was proud of her for standing up for herself. "Did I rush into assumptions…" he said suddenly having a clear mind, thinking about her having an affair now seemed silly. "Thalia probably just saw wrong.." he thought as Cyrus helped him up still laughing. Lilith was about to be thrown into the cell when Richard told them to stop, Natalie and the girls crying and pulling on Liliths skirt as the guards pulled on her arms to put her in the cell, like a game of tug of war. Richard smiled. "Let her go, she didn't do anything wrong." He said. The guards let her go confused and the girls hugged Lilith in relief. "You know they'll be mad at you." Richard said as she dusted off her dress. "Yes…I just..he made me so angry…." She said sighing. "I have no idea why he was angry, but he didn't seem to be that upset now." He said. She scoffed. "Well..thank you for helping me, I need to speak with the duchess, Natalie please come with me." She said and they walked out. The guards glared at Richard but he just shrugged not caring since they were lower ranks. "I think he'll kill me sooner than the year ends…"she thought as Melinda and Betty wouldn't let go of her dress still sniffling. Lilith started laughing and it scared them. "Why are you laughing?" Melinda asked. "It's just..you girls were so funny..the way you were pulling me like it was tug of war." She said laughing heartily, they relaxed and finally started talking normally giggling and teasing Betty for fainting. The duchess, Vincent and Cyrus sat on the couch as Lilith sat on the chair next to the coffee table while Natalie and the girls stood behind her. "Thalia believes she saw you kissing the painter..is this true?" The duchess asked. "No. Mathew just wanted to paint me, I will be loyal to my husband even though it is a loveless marriage." Lilith said. "Was anyone with you?" The duchess asked, taken aback by her comment of being in a loveless marriage. "Yes. Natalie and the girls were there with me, he was looking at my eyes so he could paint the right colors, he never crossed the line with me." Lilith said. She was slightly worried about Mathews safetly but so far it didn't seem like he was in any real danger. "Natalie, is this true?" The duchess asked. "Yes my lady, There was no contact, Lilith has high respect for the Allard family." Natalie said bowing. "Lilith..I knew you wouldn't do this, we were just a little shocked since Thalia seemed confident she saw you kissing, I hope you can forgive ny son for his remarks towards you." The duchess said hopeful, and humiliated that her son reacted that way without knowing the facts first. Lilith smiled. "Yes, I apologize as well for…punching Vincent." The duchess held back a laugh, Cyrus looked at his brother and smirked. Vincent sighed as he laid back looking up at her with a blank face. Lilith's eyebrow twitched when she saw his nonchalant face but she smiled through her anger. "Is he not going to apologize?" She thought upset. The doors slammed open and the duke walked in with fire in his eyes and veins popping on his neck and face. Thalia poked her head out from behind him innocently as she watched with tearful eyes. The duchess sighed in disappointment when she noticed that Thalia told him the news and stood up to hold her husbands arm, "My love..we worked it out, she didn't have an affair it was a misunderstanding." She said softly. The duke didn't seem to agree, but since they looked calm he took a deep breath. "The situation is handled?" He said looking at Cyrus. "Yes..father, it was misunderstanding and we've cleared it all up." He said looking at the ground. "Alright. Then I see I am not needed here." He said as he walked away. "Thalia…I thought you understood we wouldn't tell my husband until after the situation was handled." The duchess said. Thalia teared up. "I'm sorry…I just…I thought he should know…" Thalia cried. Cyrus and Vincent patted her back. "It's okay, just next time please confirm with us before you tell him anything if something like this happens again okay?" Cyrus said to comfort her. Lilith stood and started walking away. "Everyone, have a wonderful night." She said. She opened the door to her room and Vincent called out to her. "Wait!" Lilith rushed in and he followed holding the door open, she looked up at him still offended he called her a whore. "What is it." She said. "I…i'm sorry, I was angry and I wasn't thinking." He said apologetically and ashamed. She looked away as she crossed her arms. "Well…i'm sorry I knocked you out…" she said. He scoffed. "Yeah..I didn't know you were that strong.." he said. His eyes didn't have any ill intent so she relaxed, he didn't have any resentment towards her and she decided not to hold a grudge against him. "You know, when you said it was a loveless marriage I was a little surprised, I thought you liked me and you were jealous of Thalia since our last argument." He said a little embarrassed. She started laughing and he was caught off guard. "I don't love you at all, don't worry about that, either way I am not someone that can be tamed." She said through her laughter. He kept getting closer to her and when they were face to face she smirked. She could tell he was bothered. "What? Are you threatening me?" She said teasingly. He kept looking into her eyes like he was searching for an answer. She looked back blankly since she was confused, "what? You wanna fight?" She said mockingly when his lips clashed onto hers. Her eyes blew open and she froze as he held her wrists in his left hand and pulled her waist in by his right. She stayed still, not moving her lips in any way, his teeth nipped at her lips to get her to part them. When he succeeded his tongue lightly prodded her teeth to make her open her mouth, he let go of her wrists to let her move freely, giving her a chance to push him away if she wanted him to stop, but she didn't, she complied and he explored her mouth. The sweet taste made him a little dizzy, her eyes fluttered closed as she began to kiss back, her mind going blank. She ran her fingers through his hair and gently moved her hands down his neck, to his shoulders, to his chest. His hands gently held her shoulders and he softly felt her body, her waist was firm but still soft which was pleasant to his hands. He slowly separated from her when they started struggling to breathe, her face was flushed as she looked into his eyes. As they stood looking at each other, he watched how fast her face paled and her eyes widened, she removed herself from his grasp and covered her mouth in shock. "Um…." She hummed, not knowing what to say, she couldn't believe she lost control of herself like that. She didn't like him in a romantic way but since he was so handsome she lost herself for a moment. "Why did you kiss me…" she said. He snapped out of it and cleared his throat. "I don't know, I just wanted to…" he said surprised at his own actions. "Good night…Lilith.." he said as he left and shut the behind him. Lilith smirked, "what's going on in that head of yours…" She thought as Natalie walked in confused by seeing Vincent rush past her. "It was a long week my lady, next month is the ball so we need to start looking at what you're gonna wear to have it ready." Natalie said. Lilith smiled. "Yeah, you're right." She said as Natalie started running her a bath. Vincent laid in bed, still surprised at how he lost control of himself with Lilith. Normally whenever he went anywhere, women would rush to him to try and impress him or flirt. He had never met a woman that would ignore him or wouldn't try to be with him, however, most would end up chasing after Cyrus as soon as they saw him. He had never been anybodies first choice, not even Thalia, who was leaning towards his brother. Maybe since Lilith didn't care about anybody romantically, he felt like she was more his than anyone else's. The insecurity of being second choice was always with him, so seeing Lilith who is meant to be his wife have feelings for someone else bothered him. However, just like him, she made it clear from day one that she wasn't interested, she wasn't jealous, and she wasn't afraid of him. She is a strong woman physically and mentally, she knows her worth and defends herself with dignity. Problems seem to just follow her, but maybe it's because she is strong enough to handle it. If Thalia had gone through what Lilith did she probably would have died already, or gotten depressed, but Lilith still stood tall and smiled, laughing whenever she got a chance. He admitted he thought her face and body were beautiful when they first met at the dinner, her clothes however were a problem, but now she dressed more normally. "Maybe she wasn't allowed to pick her own clothes…" he thought. Remembering the wedding he shuddered, the revealing dress almost looked like Lingerie, and she looked uncomfortable, thinking back she really did seem bothered by what she wore at the wedding. He just always assumed it was her style, but she is completely different than he thought. "I should try getting to know her.." he thought and drifted off to sleep. Sebastian handed her more paperwork than usual but she didn't complain, she was happy to stay distracted. "Let me know if you get hungry or thirsty, i'll call for a maid." He said as he quickly stamped and signed the papers on his desk. "He looks like he has more work than usual too." She thought. She didn't know but he wasn't able to concentrate when he found out she had drowned, he wanted to check on her many times but felt like it wasn't his place to. He kept looking over in her direction, she looked focused and worked fast. He smiled to himself. "At least it looks like she's doing better." He thought. The door opened and Vincent walked in to sit on the chaise chair, Lilith looked confused as he sat uncomfortably. Sebastian stood and bowed. "Master Vincent, good morning." He said politely. "Good morning, Lilith, would you like to come with me to the Lily Valley?" Vincent asked. Lilith thought about it and nodded. "Yes, that sounds nice.." she said, thinking they were going to an actual valley, but that was a boutique area where many wealthy people went to spend money. Which is why when she got there she was surprised by the busy streets, as they walked she felt a strange vibe, like if someone was watching them. She stopped to look around, no one suspicious was around them, she was starting to get really irritated. They were going to enter a store when she saw a silhouette from the corner of her eye, she followed it and looked in the alley, it was empty. "I could have sworn…" she whispered. "What is it?" Vincent asked. "I don't know, I felt like someone was following us…it's probably just in my head." She said when something tied her ankle and pulled her down. She grunted when she hit the ground as the rope around her ankle pulled her. Vincent ran after her and she felt someone pick her up, she was going to hit them but something poked her arm and everything went dark, the last thing she saw was Vincent running after her as she got carried away. The knights and guards were searching the city, Vincent was worried about Lilith's safety. They weren't in the boutique center for even 30 minutes and she had gotten kidnapped, he felt like a failure for being unable to catch up to them. The person in the black cape and hood injected Lilith with something and put her on a horse as they fled. "Master Vincent, are you sure there was nothing you could recognize on the person?"Richard asked with a worried tone. He shook his head, "It happened insanely fast, she noticed we were being followed but we shrugged it off…I wish we would have paid more attention." Vincent said, he felt guilty for not having anyone guards with them to prevent something like this. "Where are you…" he thought as he sighed.