Allure of The Night - Chapter 456: Brooding Housekeeper

456 Brooding Housekeeper

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“We are near to the mansion,” Vincent stated, and Eve quickly pushed the curtain away from the window to take a look outside as the carriage continued to move.

As many years had passed since the place had been built, the colour of the walls had faded, but it still stood strong against the varying weather. The place was built amid the mountains and the forest that abundantly surrounded it.

“The Moriarty family is very wealthy,” Eve remarked with a gobsmacking expression plastered on her face.

“I knew your family was prosperous because you live in a wealthy town like Skellington, but I never knew there was this too,” Eve couldn’t take her eyes off it. She turned and asked him, “Does anybody live here?”

Like a curious child, Eve moved her face closer to the window, and her eyes followed the bridge that the carriage came to pass under it. She had seen the royal family’s castle at a distance, but never had she been fortunate enough to take a closer look. Commoners were not allowed to seek, question or wander near the royal family.

When the carriages came to a stop, Mr. Briggs and Adam jumped on the ground. While Mr. Briggs opened the carriage for the couple, the latter went to pull down the trunks filled with Vincent and Eve’s clothes during their stay here.

Soon enough, Eve’s eyes fell on a woman who stepped out of the castle’s main entrance, making her way to where they stood. The woman appeared to be in her early eighties with the number of wrinkles that were on her face. She wore a black high-collared dress, which had full-sleeves. The woman’s hair was combed back with a partition before tied into a bun. Her eyes were red, which seemed to have dulled over the years.

“Good evening, Carla,” Vincent greeted the woman. “Did you receive my letter?”

“I did, young master. Both yours and Lady Marceline’s letters,” the woman replied to him. Her eyes briefly moved to look behind him, and her eyes fell on Eve, and then returned to look at the ground. “It seems like she couldn’t make it here,” came the old woman’s dull voice.

Eve offered a slight bow to the housekeeper.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, milady. Congratulations on your wedding, Master Vincent and Lady Genevieve,” Carla congratulated them.

“The rooms have been prepared, and the water is hot and waiting for your arrival,” the old woman informed Vincent and then asked him, “Shall I have the table set in the dining room for supper?”

Carla turned and raised her hand, and in less than a second, a lean man who almost looked like a skeleton appeared. She ordered the servant, “Have the luggage placed in the master room. Lead the servants inside and have Horace ready the meal.”

Soon Vincent and Eve stepped inside the castle, where the hallways were wide and spacious. The pale walls were brightened with the help of the torches that burned brightly, along with several candle stands placed as they walked further inside the place. The housekeeper led them towards their room.

Eve was in awe at the architecture, which was nothing like she had seen before. There were portraits of the Moriarty family, and the last portrait in the corridor was of the current Viscount and his family. Upon reaching the bedroom, the housekeeper pushed open the door and said,

“Mhm,” Vincent responded, and the housekeeper left the room, closing the door behind her.

“Don’t mind her. Carla was born with that face, and it just keeps getting worse every time I see her,” Vincent replied as he hugged Eve from behind. He said, “She wasn’t too fond of us when we first came here. Marceline and me, because of who our birth mother was. A human. But you don’t have to worry about it. The only person you should think of liking is me,” he kissed the back of her ear, bringing a smile to her lips.

When Vincent and Eve entered the dining room, the head of the table chair was pulled. The housekeeper, on noticing her young master tug his wife’s hand as they walked, she informed,

“That would be when we have many people in the room. There’s no point in having my wife sit so far from me, unless you want me to keep a distance with her,” Vincent stated, looking right into the housekeeper’s eyes.

“The Moriartys are the last ones to follow anything and you should know that. By the way, where is our wedding gift? I was very much looking forward to it,” Vincent stated with a grin, and the housekeeper replied with a serious face,

With a faint smile on his lips, Vincent turned to look at her and asked, “What makes you think I am Vincent and Eve sat next to each other at the dining table. All the dishes prepared by the cook were delicious, and Eve licked her lips, savouring every bite she took.

“This must have been a good vacation place when you were small,” Eve commented as they crossed another room, she had lost count of it.

Vincent and Eve’s footsteps paused when they came in front of the family portrait, which was made when Lady Katherina was still alive. In the portrait, Vincent and Marceline were young children.

With a faint smile on his lips, Vincent turned to look at her and asked, “What makes you think I am not?”

Vincent offered Eve a bright smile, “I wouldn’t lie that it is unfortunate, how things turned out to be. But I did what I think was best for her, at least for now, until she realises that she can’t misuse the privilege she was born into. That there are unspoken limits and rules to it.” He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “You are next to me, everything is more than fine. Come, I will show you something interesting.”

“Did Master Vincent marry a human? Seems like just the same kind as the Viscount married.”

“Huh?” Asked the servant.

“My apologies, Miss Clara!” The servant apologised and quickly walked away from there.