Chapter 377: Learning more about each other_Part 1
Hours ago, before Belle regained consciousness, the Dawsons had had supper alone without the vampires, and only as an afterthought did Lady Louisiana order the servants to take food to their rooms.
When Evenly and Rav’s food was taken to their rooms, neither of them could eat it, for they still held worry for Belle in their minds. Several times while Belle remained unconscious, Evenly had gone to check on her, but each time she realized her friend was still sleeping. She would leave only after making sure Belle was breathing and that Angel was comfortable, sleeping in front of her.
It had been Evenly who told the servants of the house to prepare a late-night porridge for Belle, knowing that when she woke up, she would need something light to eat at least. She had been right. Not long after the porridge was done cooking in the kitchen, where she stood beside the maid, who was shaking under her presence, Evenly silently observed, using the moment to learn how the porridge was made. It was then that Rohan came in, searching for food for his wife.
He had easily compelled the maid not to pay attention to whatever he was doing or saying to Evenly, who hurriedly asked, "How is she doing now? Has she woken up yet?"
Rohan’s assurance had been like balm to a restless wound inside her, for she had never seen anyone fall into a condition like Belle’s, where she had been so close to death with so much blood lost.
"She needs to eat before I can give her medicine," Rohan had said to her as he looked at the boiling porridge on the fire the maid was cooking. Evenly hastily nodded her head, then ladled the porridge into a bowl and placed it on a tray before handing the tray to him with a bow.
"I pretended to want it so it could be made. You can make her have it," she told him.
As much as Evenly wanted to go check on her friend and be assured of her condition, she didn’t want to intrude on the couple, especially knowing that after such an ordeal, the duke would want to be alone with his wife.
Evenly didn’t dare lift her head after handing the tray to him, for she felt his eyes boring down on her for some reason. Just when she thought he wouldn’t leave, or that she had said or done something wrong, she heard him mutter words that sounded like thank you. And before she could even think whether he had truly said those words to her or whether she had imagined it, the duke was out of the kitchen in the blink of an eye.
She straightened up and told herself she had imagined the words as she ordered the maid, "Make sure you lower the heat below the pot and keep the rest of the porridge warm for the night." Belle might want more, she thought as she left the kitchen, feeling much more at ease.
When Evenly returned to the room she shared with Rav, she was belatedly reminded of the fact that there was no Angel to keep her company tonight. It would be just her and Rav.
Her heart made a funny flip that made her stop at the door, a deep frown forming on her face as she touched a hand to her chest. What was that for just now? she thought internally, knowing the feeling of her heart behaving like that could only happen when one was excited about someone you...
She stopped her thoughts again, mentally shaking them off because it was impossible for her to dare have such feelings after what had happened to her with her husband. It must have been the thought of being without Angel that had made her heart react like that.
She almost turned around, considering whether to go check on Belle again and from there bring Angel back, but then she talked herself out of it with the assurance that it was just Rav. It wasn’t as if his presence was that unpleasant or awkward anymore, as it once had been.
She opened the door and walked in. As expected, he was standing before the window, gazing at the clear night sky, already dressed in the nightwear she had given him last night. The room was bathed in a golden hue from the three lamps on the wall.
The sight of him standing there in his nightwear made her heart react again; it raced two beats faster than normal, forcing her to tear her eyes away from him and furrow her brows. Why is my heart behaving like this again? she wondered, unsettled by the familiar and yet unfamiliar rhythm.
She closed the door behind her.
"How is the lady doing?" Rav asked as he turned to look at Evenly over his shoulder.
"She has regained consciousness, and I believe she is eating right now. It’s a relief to know she’s awake. You didn’t eat your food?" Evenly asked, her eyes falling on the untouched food on the stool in front of the couch.
Rav turned completely away from the window after closing it to look at her. "I couldn’t eat..."
He couldn’t dare eat before the lady had taken hers, not that he could have eaten anyway, even if it wasn’t for both of them, with the worrisome thoughts filling his mind. He wasn’t as worried as Evenly about Lady Belle’s condition, because he knew she would recover with the master’s mark on her body. What troubled him now was tomorrow and what it held for them.
Before coming here, his master had told him about the humans’ plans, about why they had agreed to the marriage with the vampires, and everything they would have to do while they were here. He had said that Belle would be made to give the humans a report of weapons to kill vampires. Once that happened, the humans would begin creating those weapons immediately and might even try to test them on any vampire they could find. Apart from Rohan, he and Evenly were the only vampires here.
Rohan had warned him to be on alert once the event was over tomorrow and the humans had those weapons in their hands. Though he hadn’t spoken to his master recently about the matter since they had arrived, Rav knew the plan had not changed.
What bothered him now was the fact that he hadn’t worried about this plan at first, but now he was. Lady Evenly was clueless, and if he was on alert, she would be vulnerable and could be used for a test. He didn’t know where the feeling had come from, but he didn’t want any harm to befall her here.
For some reason, he believed she was his responsibility, since it was he who had changed her into this creature. She—
"...Rav?!"
Rav almost jumped when he noticed her standing in front of him with a frown on her face, staring at him. He belatedly realized she must have been talking to him, but he had spaced out in his thoughts and hadn’t even realized she had come to stand before him.
"Yes, my lady?" he answered, taking two steps away from her, as she was standing too close for his peace of mind.
"I was talking to you, but you weren’t saying anything," Evenly pointed out, noticing from his bewildered expression that he had missed the words she had spoken entirely. "I was saying, next time when our meal is brought, you shouldn’t wait on me like my servant. Go ahead and eat whatever you want, we are equal here."
Rav blinked at her in surprise. It was she who had once said that he was a servant and would always be below her, with no right to even breathe the same air as she did. Though he tried to act as if the words had no effect on him, he had let them settle in, reminding him at all times that he was below her and always would be.
He began to part his lips to remind her of how they could never be equal, but as if she knew what he wanted to say, she cut him off with a scoff. "I know. I was wrong. And thank you for last night, for sleeping on the bed with me when it was raining." She thanked him sincerely, for she had not gotten the chance to do so before Rohan had come to call her that morning.
Evenly noticed a faint color rise to his pale cheek at the mention of him sleeping on the bed, and she almost chuckled at the sight of it, finding it unexpectedly alluring. She had never seen a man blush before, and her former husband, who was the only man she had ever been around for long, wasn’t the blushing type, but rather the dominating kind, who believed such a thing was feminine.