Claimed by the Prince of Darkness

"NO!" came Caroline’s raw scream, ripping through the main hall. She began to spiral, "I am a married woman! I will NOT be going with that old man!" the last words coming out as a sob.

The Elites watched Caroline’s breakdown with the same mild disinterest one might give a fly buzzing against a window. An older vampiress in the front row, who wore a mink’s coat, clicked her tongue in distaste,

"I thought Sexton made sure to teach the humans their places. It seems it has fallen slack."

Beside her, another vampiress agreed with a sigh, "Looks like it needs stricter teachings. I am sure by the time Mr. Eustace is done with her, he will teach her well," as if the young human were an animal that hadn’t been properly trained.

Soon, Mr. Mortis moved to the dais to regain control of the situation, and he informed,

"We will be taking a small break before continuing the bidding. The refreshments are being provided in the next room, while we sort the ones who have been bought."

The Elites stood up and stepped out of the room, while leaving most of the humans behind.

Ruelle noticed two guards of Sexton dragged Caroline by the arms while her sister fought to free herself. But she was too weak to escape.

"Let me go! This wasn’t how it was supposed to go," Caroline choked on her words, "Ezekiel, HELP ME!"

Ruelle watched Caroline’s eyes desperately move through the room and when their eyes met, her sister began to sob.

"Please...I don’t want to go!" Caroline continued to struggle when the vampire who had bought her appeared in front of her with a frown. The next second, he slapped right across her face, silencing her immediately.

The slap was hard and loud, and Caroline’s face was turned to the side at the impact. Ruelle’s hands clenched at the sight of it.

"What are you doing?!" Mrs. Belmont questioned in horror, who had stood up from her seat.

"Shut your mouth, human," Mr. Eustace snapped in annoyance. "I am paying six thousand gold coins for her. She’s my slave and she better behave."

Ruelle watched Caroline being dragged out of the main hall with Mr. Eustace following right behind them.

Caroline had always lived in her own world. She was naive. Self-centred enough to wear the earrings given to her to flaunt them. To fill in the insecurity, even though, ironically, she was the doted-upon daughter.

But did anyone warrant a lifetime of punishment like this?

Caroline had never stepped between her father and her, never spoken up. But...she had broken bread into pieces small enough for a beaten girl to chew. It wasn’t enough and even though dim, it had still been something.

"Ruelle Belmont."

Ruelle tensed at the voice of her father and she turned to look at him standing next to her chair. She carefully stood up to face him, noticing the hardened expression on his face.

"Follow me outside," it wasn’t a request but an order from Mr. Belmont, the same authority he had used her entire life.

If it were her in the past, she would have followed. But she wasn’t that person anymore. She asked, "Why?"

Mr. Belmont’s eyebrows rose in surprise as if the family dog he had beaten had suddenly spoken. And he couldn’t quite fathom how, before his expression turned to a scowl.

"What do you mean, ’Why?’" His voice turned harsh, as if telling her not to test his patience. "I am your father. We need to talk in private."

"I think we can talk later. You should go see how Caroline is doing," Ruelle said calmly, letting her hands press to her sides.

Mr. Belmont blinked as if she’d spoken in a foreign language. He asked in shock, "What did you just say? You dare speak back while colluding with a man who tried to ruin your family?!"

Ruelle’s lips pursed before questioning, "What are you talking about?"

Mr. Belmont’s eyes moved to look at the pureblooded vampire behind Ruelle, who slowly stood up with a sigh. The action had Mr. Belmont take a step back. He took a second to recover as the pureblooded vampire stared back at him.

"Y—you, stay away from Ruelle," Mr. Belmont pointed his finger, which was crooked towards the pureblooded vampire. He then turned back to Ruelle and showed his deformed fingers, "Look at what this person did! He disfigured my hands and burned our house! What are you doing standing there?!"

Ruelle frowned and turned to look at Lucian’s calm expression. Burning did sound something Lucian would do and she asked, "When?"

"What do you mean when? Come with me," Mr. Belmont caught Ruelle’s wrist.

Before Mr. Belmont could pull her away, Lucian caught his wrist. His grip tightened just enough for the human to feel the promise of pain.

"Let go. I won’t ask twice," Lucian’s voice dropped eerily calm.

Mr. Belmont’s hand released Ruelle’s wrist as if he’d been burned. She noticed fear in her father’s face which was impossible to hide even after Lucian had let go of his hand.

Mr. Belmont recovered quickly, his eyes darting to Lucian before settling on Ruelle and he accused as if disgusted,

"This is the man you’ve been associating yourself with?"

Ruelle stared at her father before she questioned, "Why do you care about whom I associate myself with, Father?"

Mr. Belmont’s expression flickered from surprise to irritation. He huffed, "Do you even know the kind of madness he carries within him?" His voice rose, not quite shouting but there. "Why don’t you ask him what he did! Ask your mother—she will tell! Megan!"

Mrs. Belmont flinched as her attention was split. On one side, their daughter had been bought and dragged away, and on the other side, her husband was locking horns with someone who had almost burned them crisp to the ground.

Mr. Belmont waited for Ruelle to react. To demand answers from the pureblooded vampire, but instead she said,

"He must have had his reasons for whatever he did."

Her father’s mouth fell open, while her mother asked, "Ruelle, how can you say that? We had nowhere to—"

"Mother." Ruelle interrupted, and beneath her soft voice lay a sadness. She continued, "You said you didn’t want me near the family. That I brought misfortune. But now that I think about it... it wasn’t I, was it?"

Mrs. Belmont was left speechless because the truth wasn’t far from it. Once Ruelle had left the house for good things hadn’t improved. They’d gotten worse. She defended her husband,

"Your father is speaking the truth. This person tried to kill us—It was the day you left."

"Left?" Lucian’s voice was low. "You mean the day you told her never to come back."

Mrs. Belmont paled and nodded. "Yes—yes," she corrected herself quickly.

Mr. Belmont’s frown deepened before his eyes widened as the pieces fell into place. He asked the pureblooded vampire, "You did it because of her?! Do you not know we are her PARENTS!"

Lucian’s eyes darkened like a candle being snuffed. He remarked,

"You have lost the privilege of calling her your daughter long ago, Harold Belmont. It is better to be an orphan than have a spineless father who is ready to sell his daughter and a mother who only protects her blood."

Mrs. Belmont looked as if she’d been slapped, while Mr. Belmont’s face turned rigid. Unlike before where he had the habit of lashing out he couldn’t do the same now.

So Harold glared at Ruelle, like an old reflex and safe target.

"Continue with that and I will gouge out your eyes," Lucian’s voice hadn’t risen but something in it shifted.

Ruelle noticed her father look away as he gritted his teeth. She heard him ask, "Why are you going that far?"

"Stop this, Harold. We need to go see Caroline," Mrs. Belmont tugged at her husband’s sleeve.

But her husband jerked his arm away. Pride rising near his fear. She stared at him for two seconds and then stepped away, walking out of the main hall to find where Caroline had been dragged.

"Why?" Lucian murmured, as if the answer were obvious. "She was always going to be the one." He turned to look at Ruelle, and in that moment—the glimmer of predator in his eyes softened. As if she were the only source of light in a room full of shadows.

"Also..." his red eyes returned to Mr. Belmont, and the warmth was replaced by something cold and calculating, quietly entertained. "You were the one who handed her to me. Have you forgotten that already?"

The same moment, Ezekiel stepped back into the main hall. His eyes swept the room as if searching. Since his wife had been sold to Mr. Eustace, he was already rehearsing his next step. The poor husband. The man who had tried but couldn’t afford to save the woman he loved.

Mr. Belmont blinked. "What? When did I do that?" He noticed one corner of the pureblooded’s lips tug.

"You signed the document a few nights ago."

Mr. Belmont remembered it. "Yes, it was so that I wouldn’t be punished for not—" his words faltered as he realised and asked, "What—who are you?" the question hanging in the air.

"Lucian Slater."

Harold Belmont’s eyes went wide as saucers as if he had just seen a ghost. His mouth opened and closed.

"You—H—How is it possible?"

Ruelle watched her father unravel in shock. The violence and fear he had instilled on her, everything seemed to pale in the presence of Lucian. She wondered if the parchment Lucian had mentioned was the same one that had been handed to the king last night. The document that had changed everything.

"One of the parchments you signed was a confession that you wanted the treaty not to work. So it would be better for you to behave and stay far away from Ruelle. If you so much as touch her or try to bother her again, you know what I will do, Harold."

Mr. Belmont turned paler with every passing second, watching Lucian lead Ruelle out of the main hall.

To Ezekiel, with Caroline out of the way, the path to Ruelle should have been clear. But the Slater had been beside her instead of the prince. But he would find a way. Smoothening his expression to concern, he approached Mr. Belmont and called in urgency,

"Father, we need to go see Caroline. She must be scared."

Mr. Belmont only nodded before they stepped out of the main hall.

"Are you alright?" Ezekiel showed false concern. "The nerve of him to keep a father away from his daughter," he clicked his tongue, while gauging Harold Belmont’s expression. "I will make sure it won’t happen."

"Don’t," Mr. Belmont spoke through gritted teeth. "You can’t do anything as it is already done."

Curious, Ezekiel asked, "What is done?" as they continued to walk.

Mr. Belmont looked like he was still digesting the shock before he said, "Ruelle is betrothed to him."

For a moment, Ezekiel’s steps faltered and his expression went blank as if he had misheard it. He questioned,

"What?" The word came out too raw.

"Lucian Slater and Ruelle have been betrothed to each other." Mr. Belmont then continued, "It is good that you liked Caroline and not Ruelle, else I would have been in grave trouble. I didn’t even know it was him," while not realising that Ezekiel was no longer listening to him.

Betrothed?

The word burned through Ezekiel’s mind like acid. His jaw clenched as he couldn’t accept it. All these months, he had meticulously planned and she was supposed to be his.

As rage filled his body, to the others, Ezekiel Henley looked like a man in quiet distress. A loving husband processing losing his wife.

Outside the entrance of the buildings, Ruelle stood with Lucian next to her. Though her eyes were trained on the carriages which left after buying the humans they had paid for, her mind was elsewhere. She murmured,

"I didn’t know you met my parents." Though ’met’ wasn’t the right word.

"Does it upset you?" Lucian asked her, his gaze patient.

Ruelle’s eyes lowered before she shook her head. "No," she replied softly. If anything, after witnessing how Lucian dealt in the Den... he had gone easy on her father.

There was something she wanted to ask him, but she decided to wait. Soon she heard Mr. Eustace’s angry voice echo as he stepped outside.

"Fucking bitch, I will make sure I teach you the first thing we return to the mansion!"

"I will p–pay you half the amount and pay the rest later! My husband—he will give you the money," Caroline cried while being dragged by one of Mr. Eustace’s men towards the carriage. Mrs. Belmont followed right behind with worry etched on her face.

Lucian watched Ruelle in silence. She hadn’t said a word, but he could see the way she held herself too still, as if keeping something from slipping through.

The carriage door opened, and Mr. Eustace ordered, "Get inside."

Caroline looked scared. Her legs shook beneath her skirts, visible even from where Ruelle stood. The younger Belmont raised her foot to step inside the carriage when four men approached the carriage. One of them asked,

"Caroline Henley?" At her weak nod, the man informed, "You are hereby placed under arrest for the murder of June Clifford and of other women."