Married To The Mad Vampire Lord - Chapter 421

Chapter 421: The fight_Part 2
Inside the moving carriage, Belle sat across from Evenly, who looked as though she wanted to say something but was holding back. Her lips would part, as if she were preparing to speak, and then close again. Belle noticed her do this at least three times before she finally spoke.

“Do you want to say something, Evenly?” Belle asked curiously.

Evenly, who had wanted to talk to her friend about something deeply personal but didn’t know how to begin, took a deep breath and released it slowly before nodding. “Yes,” she whispered, glancing at Belle with uncertainty before parting her lips to finally speak.

“Do you think I’m a fool if I let my heart dare to love again? I mean, months ago, I thought I would never be able to love any man again or even hope for a life with someone. But lately… my heart can’t help it, and I’m scared. Especially knowing that the man my heart is falling for can’t love me back.” She poured out her heart in one breath, then drew in another as Belle listened, a soft smile curving her lips as a look of understanding settled on her face.

“Well, before I can give you my answer, I’d like to know who’s the lucky man that has your heart,” Belle said, trying to inject a little humor to ease her friend’s nerves and keep her from feeling any more tense or ashamed of her feelings.

A light flush rose to Evenly’s cheeks as she muttered in reply, “Rav… I thought you knew. I can tell you can see through me, but you don’t pry.” Especially yesterday morning when she had left Rav’s room, she had noticed that Belle had guessed what had happened.

A smile bloomed across Belle’s face at the confession, confirming what she had suspected all along. “I didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable about your feelings, that’s why I don’t pry. And to answer your first question, it’s absolutely normal, perfectly human, to love again. Don’t fight it, and don’t let the fear from your first marriage hold you back. Who knows? Maybe you and Mr. Clifton were never meant to be, and fate has simply guided you toward the right man, the one meant for you.”

She leaned forward slightly, her tone warm and encouraging. “I can’t promise that everything will be perfect if you let yourself love him, but I can assure you Rav is nothing like your former husband. Perhaps… give it a chance and see where it leads.” Belle spoke not just as a friend but also out of a quiet hope of seeing the two of them happy together in the future without their past holding them back from happiness.

Evenly bit the inside of her cheek, then turned to look out the carriage window before glancing back at Belle. “He asked me to marry him,” she admitted softly, “but I don’t want to take the risk. We’ve both been married before. I don’t care about Josh, but he still cares, and he seems to still love his late wife.”

Evenly spoke with the quiet certainty of someone who had spent too much time thinking about it, assuming Belle already knew about Rav’s past since she had known him before Evenly. What she didn’t realize was that if Rohan hadn’t told Belle just yesterday, she would have been completely unaware of it.

“Did he tell you he still loves her?” Belle asked, curious and a little unsettled by that fact. If it turned out Rav still loved his late wife, things might not go as smoothly as she hoped. Rohan’s hope of Rav’s forgiveness wouldn’t come easily, and a rift could grow between them.

Evenly shook her head slowly. “He didn’t tell me outright, but I can tell he still does. When we were coming back from Aragonia and rode past Raventown, he looked so sad. There was this distant, longing look on his face, like someone reaching for something already lost to time. And when he first told me about her… I could sense it in his voice. First love is not something easy to overcome.”

“But you overcame yours, didn’t you?” Belle asked gently. “You loved Josh. He was your first love. Just like you overcame that, don’t you think there’s a chance Rav has too?”

Evenly grew quiet, her eyes narrowing slightly as her thoughts turned inward. After a brief silence, she murmured, “But his wife didn’t betray him the way Josh betrayed me…”

She had tried more than once to convince herself that she deserved a second chance at love, that maybe she could let someone in again. But a hidden fear, one born out of the wounds of her first marriage, still clung to her like a shadow she couldn’t shake off. Was it truly possible for her to find happiness in marriage again?

Quite honestly, last night had been one of the best nights she had experienced in a long time. Rav wasn’t only gentle and considerate of her feelings and what she wanted; he had made her feel safe. Unlike her former husband, who only cared about his own release and satisfaction, Rav had held her afterward when she asked him to.

Josh would have rolled away, turning his back to her, falling asleep with that soft, irritating snore that used to make her feel small and unwanted. And when she asked him to hold her, he would have said he was tired. Rav was everything her former husband wasn’t.

But the cruel twist of it all was that Josh had once been like that too, tender and patient, when he was courting her.

“I’m scared,” Evenly admitted with a heavy sigh, lowering her gaze to her lap as the carriage swayed gently beneath them. “Because I can tell I might get even more hurt if I give this a chance and he turns out to be like Josh.”

Belle looked at her dear friend, searching for the right words. She didn’t want her own hope and desperation for Evenly and Rav to work out to color what she said.

Her voice softened as she began, “You know, before I married Rohan, I was terrified of what our life would be like. I used to believe I loved another man and that I wanted a future with him. I’d heard so many stories about married life that filled my heart with fear. I thought it would be the end for me if I married a man like Rohan. I thought I wouldn’t be happy.”

She smiled faintly, her eyes warming up at the memory. “But as you can see, my life turned out in a way I never expected. He loves and cares for me more than anything in this world. And from what I know of you, Evenly, you’re not someone who shies away from risk. Take the risk and see where it leads. It might be a risk you’ll never regret. And if it turns out badly, then you can walk away from it. It’s always better to take the risk than to live with the regret of never trying.”

The two of them fell into silence after that, Belle giving Evenly the space to think about her words and decide for herself. Whatever decision the vampiress made, Belle would support it, because she understood. After everything Josh had done to her, Evenly had every right to carry that fear.

When they reached the vampire elite town, it was more crowded than usual. Many people had taken the war news seriously and were stocking up on everything they could.

Their carriage rolled into the general parking space in the town, and Rav came around to open the door, holding Angel in one arm. The little boy was turning his head left and right, his wide eyes filled with open curiosity as he stared at the bustling White Valley town, surrounded entirely by vampires with only a few humans who were slaves.

Belle had been here before. She remembered clearly that the last time she’d come, it had been with Cordelia, who had humiliated her in public. The memory washed over her now, feeling almost as though it belonged to another lifetime.

Nothing had changed. The vampires were still forcing and mistreating the humans they had brought as slaves, just as they always had. But Belle had grown to mind her business.

Rav handed Angel to Evenly so he could take care of buying the supplies while the others wandered through the market to look at whatever caught their interest.

It was at that moment, while Rav was passing the boy to Evenly, that, from a building across the street, someone who had been watching them ever since they stepped out of the carriage narrowed her eyes. The watcher was none other than Cordelia. She was in one of her foulest moods, itching to lash out at someone, something she had already done to the unfortunate people inside the bridal readymade shop Josh had dared to bring her to.

He had told her he had a “surprise” for her. But who would have imagined that the fool was bringing her to admire the newest designs of wedding dresses he had already booked in advance, for their marriage? A marriage she had absolutely no interest in.

And just when she thought her day was getting worst, she noticed her enemy from across the street!