Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 582: A mere suggestion

Arabella intercepted Persephone right as the vampiress had been about to quit the lounge room.

Her mother-in-law was not particularly shocked to see her as her ears, null doubt, gave her presence away.

"Has he gone home?" she smiled.

"Yes," Arabella chuckled lightly, "Apparently, his father has given him a curfew to uphold,"

"He was over the moon to see you. I could smell it from here," the two of them kept quiet for a few seconds, standing there facing each other until Persephone thought to break the heavy silence, "Still, it is quite late. Aren’t you heading to bed?"

"Yes, I will after checking on Arthur but first, there is something I need to speak with you about,"

"Well, in that case," Persephone walked back inside the lounge room and made her way towards her favorite chair.

Arabella waited for no invitation and settled beside her.

"There is the matter of Allegra which needs to be resolved. However, and firstly, I’d like to formally apologize to you for the way I just up and left without a word and... Even more so for enlisting others to remain quiet on the matter on my behalf," the young woman cleared her throat, "Keeping you in the dark is not something for me to be proud of. I thought I had to keep the number of people aware of the situation to a minimum as the more variables in the plan the higher the chances of us getting caught became and...,"

By then, Persephone’s smile had completely vanished, "Go on," she gave her a gentle verbal nudge.

"And...," Arabella hesitated for some more time, "I am aware that... If I had never come into your lives, none of this would have happened. No one would have suffered the way they did. I am aware, I brought this curse upon your family and I-"

"My son has smiled in my face for the first time in centuries," Persephone’s voice rose steady but warm.

Arabella was stunned into silence, having no idea what to make of or how to respond to those words.

Her lips simply hung apart until Persephone spoke again.

"You might believe that you are the cause of all of this. The origin, if you will but make no mistake," her brow rose, "Many of the ordeals we’ve recently been through were always going to occur one day or another. Your presence merely expedited the events," her back straight, hands gracefully on her lap, she continued, "Take the crown prince of Lustris for example, he always intended on starting a second war against Umbraria. After his temporary victory against you and Silas, I dare presume his ego became inflated even more so than it already was and he pushed a little too soon, perhaps decades before he was actually ready. I am not the first one to have told you this, am I?"

"No, mother. You are not," Arabella lay her eyes on the floor and just listened.

"Do you get it now? Or should I bring other examples up?" the vampiress titled her head, a sweet smile on.

"No. That is fair enough. Although, I warn that I have no control over the things I may or may not feel on the matter. I am... Completely torn and my mind is not allowing me any rest," the young woman shook her head lightly.

"That too is fair, darling," Persephone, on the other hand, nodded, "Take the time you need, but if I can make one small suggestion, I’d say that while I agree we cannot control what we feel, we are very much able to control what we do with said feelings and how to cope with them. Always remember that at least,"

"Understood," Arabella only made eye contact with her mother-in-law for a split second before flinging her eyes back onto the floor.

"Right then," Persephone took a deep breath then sighed, "If you still have the energy to speak you may go on and tell me what you have about Allegra. I too am dying to know despite learning that she is safe and well, but held my tongue considering the circumstances,"

Once again, Arabella cleared her throat and stared at her fingers at first before finally gathering the strength to raise her gaze towards the vampiress, "I debated and flipped this matter around in my mind countless times, but no matter how many times I did, I still do not know where to start so, I am simply going ahead and say that Allegra was abducted by none other than the man that used to serve her biological father, Lord Dragomir,"

The turn came for Persephone’s jaw to hang open, eyes glistening, piercing the young woman to the soul.

However, no words or comments followed.

"I know it is hard to grasp, but from what I understand Allegra knew about his identity when he approached her some time before my arrival at the manor. At first, he threatened to expose her in order to get her to do his bidding, but since she did not bite, he instead threatened to hurt you as well as her sisters. He pestered her until she relented," she inhaled deeply before adding, "His right hand man, Lauden had no idea who she was until recently and as it seemed, he harbored some strong feelings towards Edna and felt pretty strongly about her demise then blamed it on all of us, including Allegra who did in fact murder Edna for hurting Katherine,"

After a moment that stretched the fabric of time to seem like an eternity, Arabella took it upon herself to break that hefty silence, "Are you alright, mother?"

Seeing the way her entire body had petrified, eyes refusing to blink, it appeared to be the best question to follow with.

"Uh... Yes," Persephone, shook her head out of the trance she had fallen into, "Please, do tell me more,"

"Allegra has extended an invitation to me and yourself as well. She says that she means to explain everything if we... If you are willing to hear her full side of things from her own mouth, but that she isn’t ready to face Katherine and Grace yet,"

"I see," her chin rose then lowered again as her brow ascended up her forehead, "And when do we get to visit her?"

"She wants us to go by the caverns tomorrow evening if that is alright with you,"