Lady Josephine rubbed her hand over her swollen tummy, feeling contented when she felt her baby kicked. She could not wait to see the look on Aliona's face when she sees her carrying what she had been longing for. She hated the ice queen with passion. Josephine had convinced her husband to wait till her tummy was visible for people to see she was with child.
She glanced at her husband who was busy watching the trees along the road. They had an ulterior motive for visiting the Manor at this time. It is time to subtly make the other members of the Upper House house see that the future lies in the hand of the other twin, not the childless one.
Seeing how hard she worked to get to where she was now, being just a higher vampire was not enough to be influential, the real influence comes with being associated with a pureblood. Although she had eventually married one, but she still detested that there was a higher vampire ahead of her; her brother-in-law and his wife.
When she heard the news that he would soon become the presiding elder of the Upper House, she had been upset. Her husband deserved to be the leader. He had a promising future, perhaps when the other members see her with her large sized stomach, they would think of replacing Nickolai with Richard.
"Richard", she smiled widely, "how did you convince the Demon lord to ignite the rumor?" Lord Richard smiled back at his wife with pride, "I didn't do much, I only made him see things in the right perspective. Since his kinds are the only one who weren't blessed by Phemerah, its only logical that her eyes will belong to them. It's just a matter of time" he shrugged, "why not make up the rumor now since it will turn out to be true soon?"
Josephine nodded in agreement with her husband, "you're absolutely right, one doesn't even need to think that it could reside among the human" she shrunk her face with disgust as if she had swallowed a bile. Mirroring his wife's expression, he added, "humans are way beneath us, they are nothing but a source of meal." He snickered.
Kicking the almost lifeless body on the floor of the carriage, he picked the female up and tore the rest of her clothes, exposing her pale breasts, he pinched her nipple hard, causing a soft whimper from her, his wife laughed as they both drank from her till her last breath, with a swift kick to the stomach, Richards pushed the body out of the moving carriage.
As they neared the Manor, Josephine looked at the large mansion which was pleasing to the eyes.
It shall become mine soon, she promised.
She had waited so long for it, she won't allow it to slip through her fingers as Lord Nickolai had.
She observed her husband once again, poor thing, looking at the tiny scar at the corner of his left eye brow. Richard was a beautiful pureblood, but not as attractive as his twin; not as powerful either.
Josephine's over ambition made her decide to make Nickolai her husband, unfortunately Aliona had caught his eyes instead. Thankful that her husband was also pleasing to the eyes and they both share the same goal of wanting to rule the vampire kingdom, they would go to any length to do that, clearing whatever and whoever gets in their way. Convincing the members of the Upper House to their side won't be easy - most of them were Nickolai's allies but they would try. With the demon king being their ally, they were getting somewhere.
The thought of seeing the defeated look on Aliona's face lightened her mood. She had learnt of how hypocritical she was from her distant cousin, May. She had also witnessed it firsthand on the night of the masked ball.
Several Decades Ago
Josephine stepped out of the carriage in her orange, damask ball gown. Her midnight black hair neatly packed atop her head in a chignon style, a marching orange feather was tucked to the middle of her hair. Wearing a large silver necklace around her neck, the same shade of silver was used as a glove for her hands.
The soft click of her shoes as they touch the marble ground, one would think that it was made of glass. Looking elegant as usual, Josephine tried to conceal her wide eye as she looked up in awe to see how magnificent the Manor was, soon she heard the voice of her mother, "this could be all yours if you manage to catch the eyes of the eldest son of Lord Orsini."
Vowing to herself to make the Manor hers, "trust me mother, I will" she said with confidence as she thought of how men fawn over her looks in their town.
What man in his right mind won't swoon over such a beautiful damsel? She thought.
Her mouth hung open when she saw the interior of the household, the ballroom was the largest ballroom she had ever stepped in, the brightly lit chandelier was as wide as Cinderella's pumpkin, shimmered in gold. Soon enough the party started, various species were in attendance. While her parents were busy conversing with their friends, she wandered around and heard someone spoke as they pointed, "that's one of Lord Orsini's sons."
Josephine craned her neck and followed the direction of their gaze, behold, a beautiful vampire stared back at her, his green eyes shone brightly, his angular jaw complimented his long shoulder length blond hair which stopped just right on his broad shoulder, his lips were almost between the shade of pink and red.
Josephine had seen her worthy share of attractive men but never someone as beautiful as that before. His long black length robe accentuated his pale skin, he had a friendly smile on his lips. His attention with the discussion he was having with a fellow vampire was clearly distracted by something which made his smile widened. Curiously, she followed the direction of his gaze.
Rather than something, it was someone at the balcony who was oblivious of the eyes looking at her. Josephine was a little upset that he didn't spare her a glance, rather was looking at a girl who was talking to a cat she was holding. The said girl was oblivious of her onlookers.
To make matter worse, the same drafted guest whom she heard Nickolai's identity from spoke again, "he's Nickolai, the eldest son of Lord Orsini, it seems he had seen an object of interest with that bashful smile on his lips".
Josephine's upturned lips went slacked, she threw a deadly glare at the guest who unknowingly kept darkening her mood with her unwelcomed introduction even though the speech wasn't directed at her.
The only action which suggested Josephine was not happy was the tightened grip she had on a handful of her skirt as she held in her frustration while keeping on a faint smile...as a lady should.