Married To The Mad Vampire Lord-Chapter 50: A Dream

Belle was happy to be served her dinner in her chamber. She couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction when Farrah brought her meal and told her that unfortunately, her husband had to leave for some important matters and wouldn’t be able to join her for dinner.

Farrah had looked crestfallen when delivering this message, as if she expected Belle to also be disappointed, but what the girl did not know was that Belle had hoped to avoid him until she thought of a way to get back her ring or to never even come face to face with him again.

Belle ate her dinner immediately after she was done bathing, where strangely, even after the bath and the warm chamber, she did not feel warm enough. She spoke with Farrah and got to know that the girl had little siblings who were also sold out from the slave establishment, and she hoped to see them one day. She also hoped they had not fallen prey to the wrong night creatures.

The more she heard of how the humans here lived, the more she did not want her resolve of helping them to break. Rohan and his kiss had been occupying her head the whole time more than her plans to figure out what the night creatures had been doing, and she did not like that one bit. She had escaped him knowing about why she had agreed to this marriage earlier today, and she had to make sure she secretly continued to study them.

A perfect opportunity to do that would be in the banquet Cordelia had mentioned, but before then, she had to think of a way to avoid her husband or any of his touches and plan to teach her body to lust for him. She would never lust after a man like him! Never!

Belle wasn’t too stupid to not know that he wanted her to be a sinner like him. Lusting had been preached to them so many times in Aragonia as something bad, and because he was already bad and evil, he didn’t care and wanted to drag her into it as well.

Rohan was a puzzle, pieces scattered all around. She knew she wouldn’t be able to figure and piece him together and did not want to even attempt it. The way he spoke and thought made her believe he had been betrayed before, but she had no idea by whom to make him so untrustworthy of even the world. Many things about him made her curious to the point she was tempted to ask him, but she would be dead before doing that.

When you plan to betray someone in the future, it was best you don’t attempt to know them personally, and her husband had given her no reason to want to know him. He was a manipulative devil who was hellbent on tainting her innocent soul with things she did not want, but her body was secretly betraying her for it. She had been wondering since the time she had finished her bath what it would really feel like to join with him like other married couples did.

She had scolded herself heavily for thinking that thought and had even hit her own cheek. Her mission had nothing to do with all this, and she must remain focused and carefully make her plans for the banquet because six months into her marriage, she would be required to visit Aragonia, and the king would expect her to bring in any information. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

Done eating and with Farrah gone for the night on Belle’s permission, she was left alone in her chamber where the only noise was coming from the cracking wood in the fireplace. The rain had long stopped, but the chills in her body were faintly still there.

She had locked her doors yet again so Rohan would not come in—not that the locked door had even stopped him last night—but she hoped nothing would bring him tonight. However, that sinful part of her he had awakened, which she did not know was in her, thought otherwise and looked forward to his coming.

This was not part of your plans, Belle, the angel on her shoulder whispered to her. You have always been a good girl, and you are to remain like that.

Hmph! Came the mocking voice of the sin he had awakened last night. What did getting curious about what it would feel like have to do with being a good girl? You’re married to him and are curious about carnal pleasure—there’s nothing wrong with that.

There’s everything wrong with it! You love Jamie!

Belle stilled at that reminder. The angel on her shoulder finally won. She shoved away that little devilish voice in her head and sealed away his temptation. She would not betray the love she held dear for her Jamie, because by doing so, she would be proving to Rohan that love was not strong enough.

She did not allow herself to think about her husband or hope for him to come and trotted to her window and shut it close. She then pulled the curtains. Making sure everything was closed and locked, she made her way to the bed, but then as she got into it, her nose tingled, and she sneezed twice in a row.

Rubbing her nose, she laid her head on the pillow and pulled the blanket up to her chin. Perhaps she had been too exhausted from having to go up and down that long flight of stairs and all the emotional rollercoaster of the day. She fell asleep immediately after her eyelids closed, but the moment she slept, she felt her body growing light in her sleep. There was a sensation of floating and a feeling of lightheadedness that consumed her before a heavy descent that made her heart drop to her stomach, and her eyes flew open—only she wasn’t on her bed anymore.

With a confused frown, Belle realized she was in a place that reminded her of Raventown, with a huge moon in the sky that illuminated her surroundings. The trees around her were large with no leaves but dry branches with ravens perched on them, staring at her with eyes as red as blood. It sent an unsettling chill down her bones.

Belle knew she was dreaming, yet she couldn’t help the fear settling in her. She did not like this dream. The night was too quiet to be real. There were no sounds of owls nor crickets, just her, her loud heartbeat, and her breathing. She was in her long sleeved nightdress that stopped at her ankles without shoes, and the ravens continued to pin her down with their stares.

What kind of dream was this? Belle wondered as she looked around in dread. She could see broken houses silhouetted under the moon, with no sign of another soul in the eerie stillness, until she heard a snap behind her and turned sharply to the direction.

At first, she did not see what had made that snap and was about to turn back and find her way out of this nightmare when her eyes caught the shadow behind the large tree. It moved out of it, its long cloak and big hooded head coming into her view. The moon left it in silhouette where she could not see the face. But she knew as clearly as she knew this wasn’t real that the cloaked person was the same as the person she had seen in the corridor, and her breath caught in her lungs.

The cloaked figure was tall, and its cloak was so long that it dragged behind it. The hood was strangely round and oversized, concealing the face so completely that one might think there was no person beneath it, but that was impossible, as it had just stepped out from behind the tree.

What was it doing in her dreams?! Why was the person staring at her? Even though she could not see its face, she knew the person was staring at her, which made gooseflesh rise on her arms.

"Wh-who are you?" she asked carefully, her voice echoing back at her in the still, silent surroundings.

Suddenly, the figure turned around and began to walk away, causing Belle, who had been contemplating getting closer to see the person’s face, to frown.

Who was this person? She wondered with a gulp. She knew she shouldn’t get curious about this cloaked person, but knowing she was dreaming, she found herself beginning to follow him, her bare feet stepping on wet mud and dry leaves.

The cloaked figure was walking fast, and she had to half-run and walk to catch up to him. She knew whoever was behind that cloak was one big-headed person for how the hood looked. The more they walked into the forest-like abandoned town, the more Belle noticed mist rising and covering her to her knees. She looked down, the mist was cold, so cold she shivered. But by the time she raised her head up again, the cloaked person was out of sight.

Frowning, Belle turned her head from left to right, but there was no sign of the black cloak. All she could see was dense mist that kept rising as if it would swallow her in its cold smokes. But through the mist, she caught sight of something in front of her—a gate. A rusty iron long gate with creepers all around it, like it had not been used in ages. However, it slowly began to open up for her with a crack that sounded too loud in the silent, still night.

Belle’s heart made a thud in her chest as she saw what was beyond the gate. Her husband’s castle stood ahead, but it was not the same as when she had toured it with Cordelia that afternoon. The roof was broken, with gaps where the sky showed through, and the windows were nothing but empty holes. The stone walls were cracked, covered in creeping vines, as if no one had lived there for centuries. Moonlight bathed the ruins, making them look even more lifeless.

The cloaked figure appeared again just beyond the gate. The figure stood still for a moment before turning, walking silently towards the crumbling castle.

Not knowing what to do, she found herself following the figure again, only this time, when her leg crossed the gate, the ground was not solid—it was soft and liquefied. Instead of standing on her feet, she sank into it like quicksand. She felt the earth swallowing her, and panic set into her heart. She did not even get to scream before she was swallowed into an ice-cold darkness.