Married To The Mad Vampire Lord - Chapter 425

Chapter 425: Proposal_Part 1
When Rav turned to his people, the sight of the wild brawl between the two vampiresses greeted him. He was taken aback by the fight as he had not even noticed it at first. He moved quickly, striding over and grabbing Evenly around the waist to pull her off the brat vampiress.

The moment Cordelia felt Evenly’s weight leave her, she scrambled up, hair wild, face flushed, dress filthy, ready to lunge into a fight again. But Rav planted himself between them like a wall, holding Evenly protectively behind him. His voice was hard when he spoke.

“Lady Cordelia, it would be best if you go your own way and stop making a fool of yourself in public.”

“How dare you, Rav?” Cordelia snapped at the useless servant who thought he could talk to her like that. “Have you forgotten who I am? How dare you talk to me like this and side with that bitch?” Her voice shook, not with fear, but with anger and humiliation. Her once perfectly styled hair now looked like a bird’s nest, tangled and filthy, her hat thrown off into a puddle of muddy water. Mud smeared across her elegant black dress, ruining the fine fabric she had spent good amount on.

“I know exactly who you are,” Rav said evenly, “which is why I’m giving you the chance to back off before I do something to disrespect you more.”

The crowd around them began to murmur again, their whispers rising through the air like smoke. Many of them knew Cordelia and many of them didn’t like her.

“She’s always been trouble in our social circle,” someone whispered.

“She started the fight herself now, I saw it,” another said.

“I can’t lie, watching her get hit like that was satisfying,” a plump woman muttered with a snort, earning soft chuckles from those beside her. This part of the market was mostly frequented by noble housewives, and many housewives were not Cordelia’s friend circle as she found one way or the other to humiliate them whenever they dared bring themselves to her gathering, for she found them not to fit her standard.

Cordelia’s sharp hearing caught every word they said. She turned, glaring at the crowd, her humiliation rising as no one stepped forward to defend her when she was being unjustly insulted by these losers in front of her. Couldn’t they see that she was the victim of assault here?!

“I will make all of you pay!” she shouted. “None of you will buy slaves or blood from my establishment ever again!”

“As if we want to,” one of the plump women retorted loudly, arms crossed over her ample bosom. “The last time my husband came to your establishment to buy refined blood, you insulted him for not being a pureblood. We were never coming back anyway. I guess you haven’t noticed, no one out here likes you, Lady Cordelia, and you better watch your words around here before you get yourself deep in mud water.”

Many knew she no longer had the backing of the royals, and that the Garth family money had long gone down the drain. The only support she had left was a human who hadn’t inherited his family’s wealth, and the establishment under her name. And even that establishment, she often used to taunt them.

A woman without a powerful, wealthy family behind her was considered a nobody among the nobles, and they no longer feared putting her back where they believed she belonged.

Cordelia’s throat burned with anger and disbelief as she scanned the faces, most of them women she had slighted, insulted, or humiliated over the years. Their eyes burned back at her, some with satisfaction, some with open mockery at her dirty dress and body.

Her gaze snapped back to Evenly standing behind Rav, then slid to Belle holding the child. The sight of them standing together against her made the resentment inside her churn and swell until it nearly spilled out of her. But she forced herself to swallow it down. She still had a sliver of dignity to cling to and still had the wealth and power to deal with every single one of these people.

“Very well,” she muttered. “I will leave. But mark my words, this isn’t the end. I will make you regret this day ever happened.” She let her eyes linger on Belle and then back at Rav.

She gave them one last hateful glare before spinning on her heel and stomping toward Josh, who was groaning as he regained consciousness. With no ounce of gentleness, she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him toward their carriage, mud trailing the street behind them.

—

After the fight in the market, they couldn’t stay and buy everything they would have needed. They bought only the necessary things instead and made their way back to the castle. Rav had wanted to speak to Rohan and inform him immediately on their way about what had happened, but Belle stopped him because she didn’t want Rohan running back from what he was doing just to come to them.

“I will tell him when he returns myself,” she assured Rav, who now sat in the moving carriage with them.

Rohan had said to let him know immediately if anything happened, but she didn’t think the fight in the market was worth making him rush back from the witch’s place when no one had gotten hurt. He had told her last night that the witch needed some important things that would drive away the soul and finally let Isabelle rest. Those things were not easy to come by, and the last thing she needed now was anything that would interfere with tomorrow’s rituals and distract Rohan from assisting the woman in finding them.

When he returned, she would tell him about it. Belle thought about this as she held Angel close, grateful that nobody had been badly hurt and that Cordelia hadn’t suspected Angel to be her and Rohan’s son. Thankfully, Angel had not lost his temper or used any of his abilities.

If anything, Belle was relieved that they would soon be leaving Nightbrook and wouldn’t be crossing paths with Cordelia again. That woman had always been trouble, and she still was.

“Are you sure you’re fine?” Belle asked Evenly for the third time. She had seen how Evenly had rolled in the mud with Cordelia and couldn’t tell if she was hurt or not, as she was covered entirely in mud from her head to the hem of her dress.

Evenly grinned. “Just like I told you earlier, I have never been better. I have always wanted to get my hands on her, and I couldn’t have asked for a better time than earlier.”

“She won’t let it slide,” Rav spoke up, turning to look at Evenly, who sat beside him and met his gaze. He had known Cordelia for as long as he had known his master because she had always hung around the prince like a tail, desperately craving his favor and attention for herself. And when she didn’t get her way, she would always find one.

She wasn’t only vile but also as heartless as stone, at least from what he knew. If he could have helped it, he would have avoided today’s confrontation altogether. But he had participated in the fight, and strangely enough, he had no regrets about it, just like he had no regrets about what happened between him and the lady last night in his room.

However, he couldn’t change the fact that Cordelia would want to retaliate one way or another.

Belle noticed the look in Rav’s eyes and understood why he looked that way at the thought of their confrontation with Cordelia. The vampiress had once tried to kill them in the hunting game, and Belle knew better than anyone how dangerous and vile she could be. But as long as Rohan was in the picture, she didn’t believe Cordelia would be foolish enough to act recklessly to get back at them.

But just to be safe, Belle said, “There’s no need for us to come back to buy more things for the cottage. There’s a market beyond the mountains in the town where Rohan used to buy things while we were there. We can get other things from the market when we get there. It’s best no one goes out of the castle for now. A week or a month from now, our ship will sail and carry you there.” That was Rohan’s plan, to sail the ship early.

When the carriage arrived at the castle, Belle carried her son, who had fallen asleep on the way after exhausting himself with the excitement of witnessing a fight, up the stairs, leaving Rav and Evenly behind.

Evenly didn’t follow Belle. Instead, she stood back, her gaze falling to Rav’s blood-stained knuckles. Without thinking, she stepped forward and took his hand in hers. She felt him stiffen at the contact as she examined the blood, only to notice that the wound had already healed and only the dried blood remained.

Lifting her eyes to meet his, she found him watching her intently. “Thank you for standing up for me earlier,” she mused softly, still holding his hand in both of hers.