Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 136: Only reasons to

Breasts squeezed and pushed up, the neckline of the shirt revealed more of her cleavage than Arabella seemed comfortable with, judging simply by the swift manner in which she pulled the vest over her chest.

After that, Silas’ heed snapped onto a different part of her. One that had never been emphasized in such a bold and bare fashion.

Wider on the sides, her... Rich hips filled those beige pants that hardly contained her thighs to begin with. The night she’d walked under the rain in a nightgown had allowed him a shy peek at her lower form, but at the time, there were more pressing matters to address. Keeping her alive was one concern among others.

"That’s what I thought," GlimmerGrob reappeared from behind stacked racks, "Tsk, tsk, tsk...," he made the letters pop in his mouth, "It seems like the stitching will hold, at least,"

Seeing the squirming and relentless pulling down the hem of the vest that Arabella performed, Silas took it upon himself to voice her discomfort, "Is there really nothing else that would fit her?"

"Zilch!" the goblin held his chin, nose almost buried in the stitching line over her buttocks, "But I reckon you won’t find better anywhere else either,"

"That I know," Silas paused before adding, "What about boots? any sturdy ones that might fit?"

"Luckily, yes!"

To Arabella’s greatest relief, the goblin finally dug his face out of her behind and scampered in a specific direction.

Upon returning, he held two high boots that nearly dragged across the flooring, one in each hand.

"Your feet seem quite small, but thankfully many families come to me seeking boots for their human maids. I am not very sure why but then again, it remains none of my business,"

"Good,"

"Hop, hop! Put them on then!" GlimmerGrob lifted the pair as high as he managed in order to hand them over to Arabella, "Take a seat," he pointed at a small wooden stool behind her.

Her feet slipped inside the leather quite easily, but didn’t have extra space to wiggle around as the boots hugged them perfectly.

"Stand up and walk around a bit," the whole time, Silas maintained a rigid stance, allowing his eyes to mostly do the moving.

Arabella obeyed and stepped around a little to test the waters with the shoes, though not without tugging at the hem of her vest all the way.

The fact that Silas did not shy away from staring directly at the parts that induced insecurity in her did not offer a crumb of comfort.

"Do your feet ache?"

Due to the pants that groped her lower part, thus claiming her entire focus, Arabella paid almost no mind to her feet until Silas brought attention onto them.

"Oh! No, these boots are quite comfortable," she plastered the brightest smile her features could muster. It would have been a more successful one had it not been for the icky sensation of standing naked in that place.

"I doubt we’ll find any better elsewhere and we can’t have anything tailored on such a short notice either," Silas started, "We’ll take them then,"

"That’s amazing! You won’t regret your purchase. You have my word on that," GlimmerGrob rubbed his hands together before exclaiming, "Hop, hop! you may change back so that I can bag the goods then,"

The walk back towards the carriage was a stiflingly silent one. The hum that burred from the hub rippled through the walls, standing in as the only barrier between their ears and deafening quietude.

It hadn’t been until they’d reached the bridge that Silas finally broke it, "Wear them tomorrow," the bag dangled front and back in his hand with the breeze that swayed it, "The sooner you get used to them, the better. Vampires can sense your discomfort,"

"Understood," she muttered.

Hand wrapped around her pendant; Arabella had kept her eyes down from the moment they’d exited the shop.

"I understand this isn’t a style you are accustomed to, but it is quite literally necessary for the outings such as the one we’re projecting,"

Silas on the other hand, never looked down once. Gaze always ahead, his features allowed nothing to transpire.

"Right," first came a whisper, then more words rose to her throat and pushed to be let out. Arabella fought them but failed to keep them, "So, I... Was wondering...," her voice cracked at multiple parts, "Does this mean you’ve made your decision on whether or not to bring me along?"

"Yes," he said dryly, "The more I thought about it the more reasons to bring you that came up,"

"What reasons if it’s alright for me to ask?" her eyes had finally plucked up the courage to rise his way.

"If it weren’t for you, I would have never uncovered the tunnel you used in order to cross the border," he paused to offer her a hand so that she could climb inside the carriage. Once both of them were seated, he continued, "Even through directions I would have still not been able to find it without you present on the site. Bringing another human for the task might not do either. You are the only human that’s currently in Umbraria with the knowledge you have and frankly even if there were human historians with that kind of information, I still wouldn’t trust them to help us. Not right away at least," he sighed, "Does this answer satisfy you?"

"Yes!" she nodded, "It does,"

"Would you prefer not to go?"

"No! I do want to go!" the words spilled before she could weigh them.

"You do? And why is that?" his eyes never left her figure.

"I would simply like to see the tunnels with my own eyes. It is one thing to read about history in a book and completely another to see the reminisce of it in real life," Arabella had that distant smile on her, one that often appeared when her eyes shone with starts, "There are many things I’d like to see, many places I’d like to visit. If only once in my lifetime...,"