Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 186: Misunderstood

If Silas could have the answer to one question, it’d have been; why pick him?

But of course, the sun was far above holding a conversation with a living being, mortal or otherwise not.

That day, like many other days after tending to various business matters, Silas’ legs ended their journey on one of the balconies that overhang the gardens.

His peace was only disturbed when a pair of feet lightly tapped the floor in his direction. Well, perhaps disturbed was too strong of a word since it was none other than Ada.

"You should be with her," he said coldly without ever turning around.

"Yes, I am aware, Master, but...," she trailed off very momentarily, "I excused myself to use the restroom,"

"Well, you seem to have taken a wrong turn then," still not a glance her way.

"I wanted to speak with you," that finally got him to turn around, "It is about her, Master," she added.

"Well, then speak," his glare never softened.

"She wanted to sneak out in order to see Katherine,"

The memory of Arabella’s crumpled features by the door of her room as Katherine was carried out flashed back in his mind, dragging the same wonderings he had at that moment, why all the concern?

"Why is that?" for once, he voiced it instead of mulling it over on his own.

Ada’s eyebrows instantly furrowed earning her a look that did not please him in the slightest. It made him feel as though he’d asked the stupidest question to ever be phrased.

"Because after what happened yesterday, she is concerned for her. There haven’t been any news, and she cares about Katherine... Just like I care about her," Ada had spoken slowly, taking all of the time she seemed to need, her face still returning a skeptical expression.

"Right then, if you are here then I am assuming you did not agree with her idea," Silas cleared his throat.

"Yes, of course, but I suggested she speak about it with you instead and for some reason she seems to believe you are upset at her,"

More memories flooded his conscious mind. Those of the two bizarre interactions he and Arabella had the previous night.

"I wonder why," he said in the driest of tones.

"I don’t mean to overstep, but I believe it would do her some good to see Katherine. That way she’ll at least step out of her room for a change," Ada clenched at the fabric of her apron, alternating the pinching between her left then right hand.

True that was. If all failed to coax her out of her room, that appeared to be a good enough excuse.

But would she run into the bathroom or slam the door shut in his face again in sight?

"My apologies, Master. I’ve stepped out of my lane, and I definitely should not have," her eyes fell to the floor as she straightened her stance.

Only then did Silas realize he’d been glaring daggers at her that whole time those thoughts had been blaring at the back of his mind.

"No, you did the right thing," he started, "I will handle this,"

"Understood," she curtsied a second time before spinning around and scampering back inside the manor.

The grin on her was brilliant, or so he thought. Silas turned to face the garden one last time then followed in Ada’s steps, his own guiding him towards Arabella’s room.

Upon knocking, a feeble little "yes? Come in, Ada!" came through.

Silas didn’t say a word and simply pushed the door open.

The sight of him made the smile on her drop, much like the sweet looking red apple she once held.

The young woman stood to her feet at once to curtsey all the while never meeting his gaze.

The vampire’s eyes landed on the clearly touched breakfast dishes, noting to his relief that Arabella had, at the very least, put more food in her body than the previous days.

With a linen cloth, she hastily wiped at her mouth only to then fold it and settle it back onto the table.

Surprisingly, it was her that broke the stifling silence between them, "I wish to apologize for my brash reactions yesterday. I have no excuses for how out of line I was,"

"You weren’t," he took a few steps towards her, but stopped when noticing she’d been about to step back before stopping herself, "I picked the wrong words to express my thoughts. I didn’t mean to upset or frighten you. You may speak with me freely,"

Silas never uttered the words per se, but Arabella could’ve sworn that it sounded like an apology.

To speak freely with him? Was that truly wise?

"I simply did not understand why you brought up Edgar in our conversation. He did nothing wrong," her body shook less than her voice.

"Why would you think I meant that?"

"Well, you were always upset to see me speak with Edgar, so I thought...," she never finished her sentence.

"Did I seem like it?" for the first time since he’d laid eyes on her, his diamonds flickered away, to the side, "I never realized it came across that way, but no, I have nothing against Edgar so rest assured," he sighed, "I merely brought him up because I noticed he always found a way to make you smile and with great ease at that," he marked a short pause, "I thought he’d succeed where I failed,"

"Oh...," was all she was able to mutter, eyes forgetting to blink until the cool air stung them.

All of the turning and tossing over his question and it turned out it was nothing more than that; just a simple question...

He genuinely wanted to know if she preferred to speak with Edgar for comfort. There were no hidden clauses, no agendas or gripes behind it.

"I misunderstood," only after clearing her throat twice, did Arabella manage to declare.

"What else could you have misunderstood?"

What about that question? Was it rhetorical? Or perhaps he was being sarcastic? Was sarcasm even in his nature?

Foll𝑜w current novels on fre(e)w𝒆bnovel