Lady Ursula was the youngest child in her family, with her brother being older to her she was the pampered child of their household. Pampered enough where she been given her own house to live in. Life was such that the privileged enjoyed the luxury while the poor continued to suffer in their trouble filled pained life. The human girl had been pinning and chasing her dreams, and while dreams were good, the young miss had pinned her hopes on a man who was hard to please. Damien visited her not out of politeness. The girl was smart to know that it was because of her father’s business who was lending a hand in Quinn’s business but she didn’t know that one snap of Damien’s fingers was enough to put the entire family in trouble.
It was her second time attending a tea party at a vampire’s house when she had met the man who was there only to pick up his sister. Since that time till now, she had been chasing him but not ardently. Trying to act coy and cute to win him over.
After all, that was how men liked women. It wasn’t a hard thing to deduce in what men wanted in general. Pretty dolls, sitting next to them as trophies to show-off which Lady Ursula frankly didn’t mind one bit. For someone who didn’t want to work or pick an item from one place to another, it was the perfect role where she could play dress and look pretty.
Like many other women and young girls who sought out for men to settle down with, the lady had her eyes on some of them but in the list, Damien surpassed with the most qualities. He wasn’t a perfect man but there was just something about him that made every female turn to look at him, to be intrigued by his unfiltered words.
Which was the reason the young lady couldn’t believe that there was a new competition now? A slave who was in the lowest hierarchy with no decent background now stood next to Damien holding the glass which the councilman had handed it down to her by himself. And what was with her wearing clothes like them.
She couldn’t believe that this slave was taking up Damien’s attention. The man had never lifted a finger or handed a drink to another person as she had noticed. When he had picked up the glass, her hopes had soared at the thought of Damien giving her a drink but her mood turned considerably sour. Her jaw tightening while she subtly glared at the girl who took hold of the fruit juice.
Penny who had received the glass of crushed juice stared at it wondering which fruit it belonged to as it lacked any smell. Curious on the taste, she brought her lips to take a sip but before the juice could settle in and go down her throat she felt the hard gaze of the lady who stood next to Damien. Gulping down, she looked up carefully to find the woman staring at her expressionless but she could identify by the tightened muscles of her face and the color that had drained out than before that that the lady was sulking. No maybe not sulking but glaring.
Did she do something disrespectful that she didn’t realize? But she had not spoken to her or looked her way until the glaring daggers came to her attention.
What if…What if the lady had caught the wind that she had torn her dress? Did Damien tell her? Penny couldn’t even look at Damien to confirm but she doubted that the man could be a tattletale. Petty maybe but he couldn’t be a tattletale.
“I heard you were going to travel to Mythweald,” said the man Damien referred to as Reverale.
“The job was fixed within the magistrates. Vampires have been causing quite some nuisance leaving bodies behind without any moral regard,” Damien took a sip from his drink, his lips picking up the red liquid of wine which he used his tongue to clean, “Has the demolishing company been going well?” Penny could tell hearing Damien that the man was making small talks which he was barely interested in.
Even the other vampire could tell that but brushing away the lack of interest that came from Damien, he replied,
“It has been going well. We finally were able to get the beggars out of the way as they refused to move out. Can you believe it?”
Lady Ursula chipped in on the very same to say, “People of poverty find it hard when we try to make their lives better. I mean here you are demolishing the old houses which can break and fall any time. They should feel privileged.”
Penny’s lips parted, ready to speak when she realized her words were meant to be kept within herself. Damien who stood next to her saw the little action where the corner of his lips pulled up. His mouse has been liberal in speech even when it came to him that he could see that she was finding it hard to keep her thoughts to herself.
“That is what the magistrate and I keep talking. Though I need to applaud this new architect who swayed the villagers to move to the next village. He goes by the name of Jerome Wells,” said Reverale to have the Lady nodding her head.
“The curly-haired man,” Lady Ursula laughed, “Daddy, hired him to fix the kitchen. The cabinets were loose.”
Damien wondered why the entire village was being renovated. Something felt odd about it where he couldn’t put his finger on yet. The order wasn’t directly passed by the council else he would have caught wind about it. Like many other councilmen who kept their eyes and ears open to pick up the slightest things that went on in the council to know the situation in the four lands of the empire, Damien did the same. People usually did it for two main reasons- one because they wanted to safe keep the lands and its people.
The second reason was for their own good. Men and women used the intel to hide things that were not be known in public.
