Claimed by the Prince of Darkness

Chapter 117: The Girl in the Snow

Ruelle’s gaze moved between Lucian and the bed before she quietly voiced out the thought in her mind, "It isn’t that time of the month for me yet."

Lucian turned a page as he responded, "I know," lifting his eyes to meet hers.

A small crease formed between her brows. "Then... if I take the bed, where will you sleep?" She could not imagine the couch to be comfortable enough for him.

"I haven’t decided yet," he replied. His gaze lingered just long enough for warmth to rise to her cheeks and she averted her eyes quickly, suddenly aware of the way her hands clutched the edge of her sleeve.

"I don’t think it would be proper," she murmured.

Lucian tilted his head slightly. He asked with an even voice, "Which part is improper? Me sleeping on the couch... or me sleeping in the same bed as you?"

Her breath caught at his words. A woman sharing a bed with a man before marriage was considered scandalous. Yet she was in Sexton, where they would soon be taught about such intimacies being labelled as preparation.

"You are not sleeping on the couch. Go to bed, Ruelle, or I will carry you there," his tone did not rise, yet it left no room for argument.

She picked up the blanket and then walked across the room to reach the bed. She sat carefully on the edge of the mattress and the bed springs gave a quiet sigh beneath her weight.

At the same time, she saw Lucian place his book to the side and make his way towards her. She saw him bend and pull the drawer next to the bedside before he picked up a familiar-looking brownish-red wooden box.

"You found it!" Ruelle said with a smile. It was the box that belonged to her biological mother. "When did you go and fetch it? Did they... my family say something?"

"They weren’t at the house," Lucian answered, already turning toward the couch. "I’m surprised your parents or your sister didn’t take it from you."

Ruelle’s fingers moved over the dull, chipped surface of the wooden box. A small smile lingered on her lips though it never reached her eyes as she replied softly,

"It was never valuable enough for them. Or something that could be sold for my father to use. There are just random things, but nonetheless very dear to me." She pushed the lid and stared at the contents inside it. "It is one of the few things I have of hers, apart from the chain."

Ruelle’s father had remarried within a week of her mother’s passing, where Caroline’s mother had stepped into the house while the air still smelled of mourning.

Sometimes she wondered if she had ever truly been held by the woman who gave her life... or if their time together had been so brief that even that simple warmth had slipped past her.

"Thank you for bringing it to me. I don’t know if I would have the courage to go there," Ruelle murmured the last words more to herself.

it the people or the walls that remind you?"

around the box. She admitted, "I think it’s both," her voice barely above a whisper. "Sometimes I wonder now... if I wasn’t admitted to Sexton, with the debts my father piled

find humans too when they are

of humans was not considered worthy enough until a while ago. Some of the elder vampires who serve in the king’s court have been trying to bring

them, neither looked away. The next moment, Ruelle cleared her throat and said,

carefully to find him back with his book. Having not slept much last night,

time, the soft sound of a book closing broke the silence in the room which was followed

curled near her face. Strands of hair had fallen across her cheek, rising and falling softly with her

consequences." His eyes drifted to her softened expression where

asked softly, the thought lingering longer than it should have after she spoke about the possibility of her being pawned. His gaze moved over her sleeping face, at how defenceless she

over and brushed the strands away.

you would hate that," he said quietly. "So I’ll deal

Lucian, Ruelle hadn’t changed much from the girl he had first met twelve years

Twelve years ago...

the courthouse.

been asked to present themselves here," Lord Azriel said solemnly.

murmured though she knew well the weight their name carried. She glanced toward him before softly adding, "Would someone closer to her age not be more suitable? After all,

responded, "I don’t believe the ministers are concerned with which of

Lady Irina asked with

over her knuckles. "If

the icy wind howled through the trees and the Slater couple stood near the mansion’s entrance with their sons. They caught the human couple trudging on the hardened snow with a little girl, who was being guided by

Lady Irina asked, her

who was sixteen

an unnatural stillness. His dark hair was slightly tousled and his deep red eyes settled on the small figure beside the woman, her face hidden beneath an oversized hood. As the little girl walked, her boot slid on the hardened snow and she

remarked young

raised two very honest sons." She placed a gentle hand on Lucian’s shoulder while looking at

deep bow, though his shoulders

greetings to you and your family. I am Harold Belmont," the human introduced himself, his

He introduced his family, "My beloved wife,

to the Slaters’ Mansion," Lady Irina said

Mrs.

the letter from the elder minister has reached you, Lord Azriel," Mr. Belmont said,