Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 133: Read his face

The colors of the garden reflected on every surface, be it wet or dry. The wind lulled the high trees into a hypnotical dance, birthing a whooshing that reverberated throughout the entire grounds.

Edgar claimed his place among the greenery, clipping more unruly roses that stuck out of the lot. His smile instantly grew brighter upon noting the two women walking his way.

"Morning to you, Ladies," he paused all motions.

"And to you, Edgar," Arabella answered him first.

"What are we busy with today?" Ada neared the rose hedges, scanning their standing.

"I just got done reaping Yuniper and have now moved on to the roses," he placed the rose in his hand down among the others.

"Yuniper?" Arabella sounded a little alarmed at that.

"Well, yes," he started, "Where do you reckon the Yuniper extract in the pharmacy comes from?"

"I understand but isn’t its aroma alone dangerous for most creatures of the night?" she fiddled with her pendant.

"It is. That is why it is kept separate from the rest of the gardens," Ada pointed to their far east, "I suppose you haven’t yet seen the green house. It is where medicinal plants are kept,"

"Right. That makes sense," Arabella sighed.

"Would you like to see how big the white rose hedges have gotten?" Edgar walked to his right, allowing the women some time to register his words then follow.

"Why, of course!"

Arabella had practically leapt his way, clutching at both sides of her gown in order to move faster.

They’d grown so much in such a short lapse of time that her eyes refused to blink upon finding them, afraid it was all but a dream and the roses would vanish should she close her eyes for the shortest of seconds.

"I sent some of them up to your room, but I haven’t received word back so, I thought-"

Edgar never got to finish his sentence.

"I haven’t received them,"

Under her gaze and knitted eyebrows, the man was prompted to try and soften the situation, "Oh... Then they must’ve gotten mixed up or lost at some point," he chuckled awkwardly.

"I wasn’t made aware of any roses that were supposed to be delivered to you," Ada immediately shook her head when Arabella turned to her.

"That is quite odd...,"

The young woman wanted to concede that it was no more than a coincidence, an honest mistake that wouldn’t happen again, but a small part of her suspected there was more than meets the eye and Edna was her first suspect.

After all, she had imagined the blonde would be capable of much worse so why not dispose of roses that were meant for her?

Nevertheless, Arabella pushed the subject matter aside in order to admire the snow-white roses. Immaculate, each and every petal strongly reflected sunlight, blindingly so.

A dull pang scraped at her entrails, thinking of her mother and the face on her had she been there by her side.

If only magic allowed raising the dead or if it only permitted the turning back of time, just for moments... But alas, there was no hope for that.

Such a shame too. Out of all the people that walked the world, Arabella believed her mother stood among the bunch that deserved to live their lives to the fullest.

"Miss?"

Ada’s voice wrenched her from that daze," Oh sorry!" sensing the tears that threatened to escape, Arabella wiped at her eyes and chuckled to dispel the tension that had claimed Edgar’s and Ada faces, "It’s just that they are so beautiful!"

"Yes, they are," in the softest of tones she’d uttered. Ada then placed a gentle hand upon her back.

The young woman’s eyes darted onto Edgar, a new flicker in them, "May I take some with me?"

"Well, I don’t see why not, but... I will have to clip and rid them of their thorns just for your safety," he smiled.

"Thank you," she muttered.

"I can help remove the thorns on them," Ada began to fold her sleeves up.

"Oh! I don’t think that is such a good idea. It can-"

"Trust me, Edgar. I can do it," she insisted, a tad firmer.

After those words, not many others were exchanged. Edgar handed Ada a pair of gloves as well as a thorn stripper and watched as she worked on the thorny stems.

"You do know your way around them, huh?"

"I told you so, didn’t I?"

The two smiled at each other before focusing on the task at hand while Arabella merely crouched down, elbows on her knees and chin on hands, quietly admiring their work.

And they applied themselves quite well since they were done in less than twenty minutes.

Edgar wrapped the roses for the taking and waved goodbye as the happy young women headed back towards the manor.

Arabella practically shoved her nose down the bouquet so deep her eyes barely knew where her feet landed.

"Careful!" Ada chuckled, "A bee could be hiding in there. You nose wouldn’t recover before tonight,"

"Oddly enough, that does not worry me as much as it should," without a glance in Ada’s way, Arabella kept on gawking at the flowers.

"Does it now?" an ice cold voice cut their giggling at once the instant it reached their ears.

"Master," both women curtsied and refused to meet his gaze.

Silas’ focus remained on the roses for a concerning amount of time. At least, it seemed like it to them.

He said nothing else after that and walked right past their frozen figures. Ada’s more so than Arabella who looked confused rather than frightened.

"Oh dear!" Ada leapt up and down the moment he disappeared behind a wall, "Did you see that look on his face?"

"What look?"

"You didn’t see it? I thought he’d be out for longer. I told you it was not a good idea to come out to the gardens!" the maid nearly bit on her nails in her frantic state.

"You did not say that and Ada, calm yourself. He looked the same he always does,"

Arabella tried, but Ada was having none of it, "Oh Miss! You ought to learn how to read his face,"