Married To The Mad Vampire Lord-Chapter 42: "Warm enough?"

"Good. Escort Cordie to her carriage," he said, and the vampiress, who had been forced to stay and watch his wife get punished in the rain, couldn’t help but sigh in relief at those words. She smiled and adjusted her hat on her head. She had wanted to leave when the rain started as she did not want to ruin her dress, but her cousin had told her to watch the human get punished with him.

Now that he had given her permission, she looked at him and said, "Oh, cousin Rohan, we didn’t even get to spend today together to catch up on things we’ve missed. I will be on my way. I will see you at the Royal Castle on the day of the banquet," she said, and then, as if thinking about something, she turned to the human who was almost done picking up the fruit and then back at Rohan, who barely showed any emotions on his face, and then said,

"There’s something fishy about the human, cousin Rohan. Do not trust her, or she will break more than just your plants in the future. People say she’s a flawless beauty, but she has many flaws when it comes to that aspect. I will be on my way." She offered him a curt bow and then, without waiting for his reply or the useless Rav to escort her, she turned and hurried away, smiling as she believed she had achieved what she wanted.

Rohan finally took his eyes away from his wife and watched his cousin’s retreating back in the drizzling rain. "I want you to keep an eye out for when her father goes to the slave establishment to get those slaves. Her family will pay for the plant I lost. She’s too spoiled. It’s time I humble her to the state she despises so much," Rohan said tonelessly to Rav, who did not need to be told to know what Rohan meant and planned to do to punish his cousin, only that this punishment would not only affect her but also her entire family.

If Lady Cordelia thought that she had gotten away with this, she was very much wrong, and instead, she had just poked what should have been left untouched. Rav thought, but he could not find it in himself to pity the woman, as she deserved whatever she had brought upon herself.

When Belle finally picked the last apple and placed it into the large basket, she let out a deep sigh of relief and looked back at the garden where she had moved around it more than twenty times to gather the many apples. It was clear now, and the rain had stopped, but lightning and the distant rumbling of thunder could still be heard. She then looked down at her palms and dress, grimacing at the state she was in.

The expensive blue dress she had hoped not to ruin was now beyond ruin, with grass stains and rotten apple juice that left smudgy stains on the fabric where she had subconsciously wiped her hands when she touched the rotten fruits. Even her shoes were filled with water, and her back was aching. Looking up at where the devil was, she was surprised that the vampiress who had put her in this trouble was gone, and her husband was now standing with Rav under the tree, watching her like hawks.

She did not care to feel embarrassed at the state she was in as she saw his eyes trail her body and then settle on her face. While he wasn’t spared from the rain, it did not dampen his good looks and that devil-may-care aura he always carried. In fact, his dark attire did not seem like it was wet; only his blue hair stuck messily around his face.

She did not know whether to go to him and ask if that was all and if she could go in and change or if she should just turn and find her way to the castle. Deciding not to do either and stand where she was, she was surprised when he pushed away from the tree and then used his finger to beckon her to come to him.

She found herself walking towards him before she could tell herself not to move. When she stood before him, she lowered her head and did not say anything until she felt his hand move on her wet hair, causing her to instinctively move her head back and look up at him.

"Does it feel good to be punished, Isa?" he questioned her as he tilted his head to the side with a studying expression on his face, where a drop of water trailed down the wet strands of hair and down to his cheek, maneuvering to the cleft above his full lips. Her eyes followed it until she realized he was watching her and saw where her eyes were because he smiled suddenly, revealing his straight white teeth.

"Do you want to kiss me, wife?" Rohan asked, causing her to snap her eyes away from his lips to his face. Embarrassed at being caught staring, she cleared her throat and looked away from his face at the same time a gust of wind blew in their direction, causing her to shiver from the cold as she was drenched from head to toe. She wrapped her arms around her body and realized he had asked her a question.

Before she could ask what he had said earlier, Rohan had spoken again, but not to her—to Rav, who stood quietly at the side. "Give me your cloak, Rav," he said, holding his hand out to the man without looking away from her.

Rav was taken aback by the words and blinked in confusion as he thought he had mistaken his master’s words. "My cloak?" he asked, as he didn’t know why Rohan would suddenly want his cloak.

"Did I stutter when I spoke, Rav? Hand me your damn cloak. There is no sun in the clouds; you will be fine without it," he said with a note of displeasure in his voice as he flicked his fingers like he was impatient to get the cloak.

Rav did not dare question the man again. He simply reached his hand to the front laces and loosened the black leather water-resistant cloak that was made for the high-class vampires, which he was fortunate enough to have many of, all because of his master, who had so casually thrown them away as they belonged to the late king.

Belle, who hugged her arms around herself and couldn’t wait to go inside and change, watched as Rav gave her husband the cloak, and Rohan flipped it in the air like he was trying to get rid of an invisible dust on it. She had thought he had taken the cloak to wear it himself, but to her astonishment, he leaned forward and swiftly put it around her body, causing her eyes to round as she had not expected it.

Even Rav was surprised at that action. Did he just take his cloak to shield his human wife from the cold? And that too, he was carefully tying the string and pulling the hood over her wet head? Was he seeing things? Rav thought, but he did not dare voice out his disbelief, as this was the very first time this man had cared to shield anyone but himself from anything.

Belle stood still as she watched his concentrated, serious face as he pulled the hood over her head and then looked down at her when he was done. "Warm enough?"

She did not realize when she nodded. "Yes..." The cloak was indeed warm and dry even though Rav had worn it in the rain. This husband of hers was strange, Belle thought to herself. He had given her punishment in the rain and now given her a cloak to keep her warm...

"Walk with me," he said to her as he began to walk away, as if knowing she would follow, and she hurriedly followed behind him, the cloak sweeping the wet ground behind her as she was not as tall as its owner, who was too bewildered to move away as he watched them walk away.

Did his lordship really mean it when he said his bunny was here to stay and he would never harm her? Rav thought, as he was still finding it hard to believe. Though to anyone else, it was just a small and natural gesture for a husband to give his wife a cloak, Rohan was no ordinary man...

They walked in silence around the other side of the vast garden, where Belle walked a few feet behind him. This part of the garden they walked in did not have many apple trees but a vast space with trimmed grass and stone paths, with unbloomed flowers on either side that kept catching her flowing cloak. Unlike normal gardens, here, there were no sounds of birds. Apart from the light thunder sounds that came from the distance and the leaves of trees being swayed by the light, earthy-smelling breeze, there were no other sounds.

She did not know if they were going back to the castle or if he wanted to continue the tour his cousin had not completed, but she followed him without questioning him, until her curiousity took the best of her again.

"Rohan," his name rolled out of her mouth after walking for some time. She heard him hum deep in his throat without stopping, only turning his head over his shoulder as if to ask what.

Wetting her lips, she asked the question that had been bothering her. "What was the black plant? I mean, is it that important?" It was so much easier to talk to him when she wasn’t looking at his face but at his back. She couldn’t help but keep thinking of how the plant had vanished just like that and how, for the first time, she thought she glimpsed despair on his face when he looked at the soil earlier.

He was silent for a long moment, and she thought he wouldn’t answer, but he finally answered when she was about to give up on trying to know what it meant to him.

"Very valuable," was all he said, and then she heard him sigh and fall silent again. She wished he would tell her more about it, but then she decided it was better she did not know what it meant to him so she wouldn’t feel bad and try to make up for it, even after the punishment that had now left her with back pain.

"Tell me, Isa. You take blame like it’s a gown to be worn. Did you like how this one fit?" came his nonchalant, sarcastic voice that broke the silence again and the peaceful walk, making Belle purse her lips and glare at his imposing, wide back. For a moment, she was feeling bad, and now he had to say something to shatter it.

"I did not take any blame, I was the one who dropped it," she said, already knowing what he meant.

Rohan slowed his pace so she would catch up with him, and when she came to walk at his side, he clicked his tongue. "How naive of you, little bunny. Tell me, if a hand pushed a vase to the edge of a table, and the wind nudged it the rest of the way, who broke it? The hand? The wind? Or the ground it shattered on?" he questioned without looking at her, keeping his eyes ahead.

Frowning uncertainly, Belle turned to look at his sharp profile. "The one who pushed it first...?"

Rohan chuckled darkly, shaking his head. "Then why did you take the blame?"

"I did not take the bla—"

He suddenly stopped walking, causing her to stop as well, and he turned his unimpressed eyes on her. Belle moved her head deeper into the hood, as if to hide from that intensity, with which he was staring at her like something he couldn’t understand at all.

"You dropped the pot, yes. But you didn’t set the stage, nor choose the moment. Someone else placed the weight in your hands and whispered in your ear. The culprit isn’t always the one who shatters the glass, Isa. It’s the one who nudged it close to the edge and watched with a smile. Congratulations, you would have lost your head today if you weren’t my bunny."