Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 197: For what isn’t your fault

The Fata village buzzed with life. The humming of their fluttering wings yielded rumbling that coursed their vicinities, only withering the greater the distance from its source.

Ariel was once more, the one to greet them, zooming straight before smooshing herself against Arabella’s cheek.

"Oh! I thought I wouldn’t see you this early after what happened!" the little thing squeaked.

"I didn’t think I’d come out so soon either," she embraced the small creature to the best of her abilities while making sure not to squish too hard, "May I see Liriel and Floriel? How have they been? I was so selfish the past few days, I only cared for my own feelings!" eyes wide open, Arabella blurted all of that in one breath.

"Don’t you say that!" Ariel puffed her cheeks which emphasized the knitted eyebrows on her forehead, "You reacted reasonably considering the circumstances," her expression softened, "I am just glad you are here with us,"

"Look who decided to visit!" Floriel’s meek voice reached the young woman’s ears, inducing the biggest and brightest of smiles seen on her since the ordeal. One mixed with glistening tears that begged to be released.

"Floriel!" Arabella greeted the fairy with her second cheek, "You seem healthy! And you’re flying! I am so sorry for everything that happened to you through fault of mine!" her voice grew more and more strained as the sentences went on.

"None of it was of your own doing! Do you hear me?" as though copied and pasted, the puffed cheeks on Floriel very much resembled the expression Ariel had returned moments before, "None of it was your fault!"

"What about Liriel? How is she?" Arabella did not acknowledge the fairy’s affirmation and instead switched onto a different topic.

"Of course she is alright!" said Floriel.

"Doing even Better than us!" Ariel chimed in.

Both simpered and sparkled with a radiance Silas hadn’t witnessed on them in ages.

"May I see her?"

"Well, she is not here," Floriel started.

"She went out on an errand," Ariel added. freewēbnoveℓ.com

"An errand? Doesn’t she need to rest?" Arabella’s mouth remained agape after receiving those news.

"No need! We’ve rested plenty. We’ve even gotten bored of lying in bed," Floriel chuckled.

"You tell us how you’ve been instead," Ariel settled on the young woman’s shoulder, "You seem alright, but it is clear you aren’t exactly over what happened,"

"Don’t be silly, Ariel!" Floriel took the second shoulder, "It is not something you get over so easily!" her features then mellowed, "But still, she is right about it. Your skin isn’t as glowy as it used to be,"

"Please don’t worry for me. I’ll recover sooner than you’ll think,"

Arabella’s attempt at reassuring the fairy went out in vain however, as Floriel’s outlook further dimmed, "I should’ve noticed the shift in their auras quicker. Liriel and I were the only ones who could’ve prevented it all from happening,"

"Shush... None of that, please,"

The young woman put more effort into soothing the downcast fairy all the while Silas only stood behind them and watched their interaction.

Quiet on the outside, but mind bustling on the inside, stuck on what his ears had caught the previous night.

A snippet from hers and his mother’s conversation in the lounge room. The question that made his breath hitch the moment it’d been asked... Did she have romantic feelings for Edgar?

Although the answer was no, the doubts lingered on whether she was being truthful or giving the answer she believed his mother desired.

Either way, quizzing her a second time on the matter so soon after Persephone wouldn’t do. It’d null doubt scare her again.

Through it all, Silas thought he deserved a pat on the back for realizing that something would frighten her before uttering it.

It may not have been a big step in the grand scheme of things, but... No, it was an enormous step. It was as though a veil had been lifted off his eyes, like a different language he’d been attempting to understand and speak for so long that finally sounded intelligible to him. Well, he was understanding the first words of it, at least.

"Will you be staying the day like last time?" Ariel had to literally float in front of his face in order to capture his attention.

"No," he replied before thinking, but after noting the look on Arabella’s face he confirmed, "We will be heading back soon,"

"Oh...," Floriel pouted, plopping her figure against Arabella’s neck.

He made note of it during their first visit; the way the fairies had quickly gotten attached to the young woman. They, who usually took their fair share of time to warm up to new people.

The vampire recognized how even animals who were known to shy away from interaction ran face first into her arms.

It was thoughts such as those that made him doubt her nature or whether she concealed more than she let on.

Human or not, Arabella had the power that rivaled them all. The ability to draw people, even closed off ones, towards herself, bringing the best and unfortunately, perhaps even the worst out of them.

As for the ones it repelled away, like Edna, the young woman still held her tongue about her, never pointing an accusative finger in the maid’s direction.

On their way back, the little squirrels huddled around them and tracked their steps the same way they did at their arrival.

Silas remained on his guard, eyes darting from one spazzing fluff ball to the next which had the merit of amusing Arabella as she held onto his arm.

"Do you think Liriel is truly fine or... Perhaps she...," The young woman trailed off after ending the silence between them.

"I did not sense her presence around the village," he marked a pause before asking, "Why would they lie?"

Quietness returned, only entertained by nature’s whisper around them.

Although, it didn’t last as Arabella’s voice rose again, "I don’t know. Perhaps she did not wish to see me after what happened," she spoke very sheepishly.

"Liriel is not the type to hide behind anyone else in these sorts of circumstances. Aside from that, she is reasonable. She wouldn’t blame you for what isn’t your fault,"

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