With one hand resting on the table, Vincent asked her, "Did you enjoy having your breakfast with us, Ms. Barlow?"
"It was my second breakfast for the day," replied Eve, and Vincent chuckled.
"Didn't look like it," he looked at her from the corner of his eyes.
On one side, Eve was happy to have the job, knowing she wouldn't be kicked out from being Miss Allie's governess. But the reason why Vincent had even discussed it with his father was that he had discovered her truth and keeping her close would make it easier for him to consume her blood whenever he wanted. It wasn't as if she didn't know why the decision had been made. Then another part of her mind told her that she was an efficient governess, and the family had seen her potential.
Eve said to Vincent, "Thank you for your invitation today, Master Vincent, but I would be more grateful to stick to the piano room and teach Miss Allie, without any other extra benefits."
"Liar," Vincent remarked with a cunning smile, and Eve noticed his sharp fangs. "Why does it feel that the extra benefits felt more like a punishment for you? Women are often pleased on receiving flowers, unless one is allergic to prettiness."
"They are pretty flowers," replied Eve, because it seemed like the flowers had been plucked before Mr. Quintin came to Moriarty's mansion. "What about you?" She asked him.
"I prefer a cactus. Low maintenance and if you leave them for two or three days, they will still be fine rather than fussing over prettiness, don't you agree?" Vincent grinned.
Eve asked, "Don't you have somewhere to be at work, Master Vincent?" She wanted to get on to continue teaching Allie. "We have been talking here like we are friends with free time on our hands."
Vincent's eyes moved to her, and he hummed. He replied, "That is interesting. I didn't know you wanted to be my friend, Ms. Barlow."
Eve quickly shook her head and corrected her words, "You are my employer and I am your employee, Master Vincent. I don't think we are friends."
"Rubbish," Vincent brushed off her words, "A friend in need is a friend indeed. Did you already forget how I helped you yesterday and now? What do you think, hamster?"
Allie, playing the song, paused a little before turning and nodding. Seeing this, Eve believed that at this point, if Vincent asked Allie if he was a human, she would agree to it too without a single question.
A wicked smile appeared on Vincent's lips, and he questioned, "What's the matter, Miss Eve. Worried because you know that a male and a female cannot be friends?"
Eve felt as if someone had fed her a piece of garlic.
"I never said they cannot be friends, bu--"
"I don't think I could ever be bored with you around," stated Vincent, as if he was enjoying poking fun at her until now.
Eve gave him a hard glare, "If you have had your fill of amusement for the day, can I start my class with Miss Allie?"
Vincent chuckled at her reaction and started to make his way towards the door. Before he could step out of the room, Eve cleared her throat and said, "Thank you for what you did, Master Vincent. I appreciate it."
Though the vampire had more than one screw loose in his head, it didn't mean that she had forgotten her manners, and she thanked him. Vincent placed his hand on the door knob and turned,
"Make sure you don't do anything foolish and watch where you are walking." He meant wasting her blood and added, "Watch what you eat. I like my food with quality" and with that, he left the room.
As the day continued, Eve made sure to not move her leg much, giving it enough time to heal, while Allie was sweet enough to pull out the books from the racks. The little girl brought her lunchbox to the table when it was time for lunch so Eve wouldn't have to walk back and forth.
When it was near the time of evening, Marceline had only returned from a soiree back to the mansion with her friend Stella Desford. They noticed flower bouquets placed at the side of the hallways. Marceline turned pleased and stepped forward, taking one of the bouquets, she started to read the card in there, which was written for her.
"Seems like many men have been trying to woo you, Marceline. Who is it from?" Questioned Stella, and Marceline didn't bother to read the entire greeting as she placed the card back in the bouquet.
"By Mr. Lawson."
"I don't think I have heard the name before. Someone you know?" on Stella's question, Marceline shrugged her shoulders.
"Never heard of the name, must be someone of no belonging to high family or status," replied Marceline and she picked up another bouquet of flowers with a pleasant expression on her face. There were a couple more bouquets, and she went through them one by one before picking the cards.
At the same time, Eve who had finished her working hours, made her way through the hallways. She bowed at both women, where Stella Desford didn't bother to acknowledge her, but Marceline did.
"Are you doing okay, Ms. Barlow? You seem to have trouble with your foot," remarked Marceline with worry in her eyes.
It seemed like the glass piece had done the trick yesterday, thought Marceline. But not quick enough as it hadn't stopped Mr. Quintin from bringing Eve flowers this morning to the mansion.
"I am doing better now, thank you for asking," Eve smiled at Marceline, who nodded at her. Eve's eyes then fell on the flowers that now decorated one corner of the hallways.
Ignoring the governess, Stella asked Marceline, "Who is that one from? The flowers look exquisite."
Marceline lightly blushed before saying, "It is from a Duke. You must have heard the name of Noah Sullivan?"
"I think I saw him last evening at the ball. He is a very handsome man," replied Stella.
"He is. I was hoping for him to write to me, but I didn't expect him to write to me this soon," smiled Marceline, closing the card in her hand before Stella could read what was written there.
Eve didn't bother to stay there for long and bowed her head to them, "Have a good day." She walked past them.
With a subtle smile on her lips, Marceline watched the human step out of the mansion.
"Isn't she the one with whom your brother danced yesterday?" Questioned Stella, watching Eve disappear from their sight. "You should have her removed from the job, women like her are dangerous."
Marceline smiled before saying, "Let us not tangle ourselves with others, Stella, when there are other things to do," as if she was the last person in the town who would bring harm to anyone.
Eve walked through the gates, where Eugene had parked the carriage to the side and not in front of the mansion. He bowed his head in greeting, "Good evening, Miss Eve. How was work today?"
"It was alright," an inaudible sigh escaped from Eve's lips while Eugene took her lunchbox and umbrella from her. "How long have you been waiting for me?"
"I arrived half an hour ago, Miss," replied Eugene.
The bleeding from her wound had stopped. But that didn't mean the thread-like string that Vincent had used to close the wound didn't hurt. Climbing inside the carriage, Eugene closed the door before driving the carriage from there.
On their way, when they had travelled almost half way, Eugene stopped the carriage. Noticing they were still in the forest, Eve pushed open the front window and asked,
"What happened?"
"The path has been blocked," replied Eugene, and Eve pushed the window to the side and put her head out. A big log of wood had been placed in the path. In front of the log of wood stood two people with a guard. The guard came near their carriage and informed them,
"The bridge ahead has broken and needs to be repaired. It is better to take the other path."
"Lucky that it didn't break earlier. Thank you," Eugene thanked the man and drove the carriage to move back in another direction.
Their carriage moved through the thick forest, taking the longer path by crossing around the other towns. Twenty minutes had passed. Eve turned away from the window, stretching her hands when the carriage shook in turbulence. She was about to hit her head because of the sudden impact if she didn't quickly place her hands to support her body.
Suddenly the carriage lowered itself with a thud to the ground, and Eve jerked forward.
The carriage wheels came to a halt, and so did the horses. Eugene turned around and asked in worry, "Are you alright, Miss Eve?! My apologies, there was a deep puddle."
He hopped from his seat, and Eve pushed open the carriage door before climbing out of the carriage. She noticed one of the four wheels broken.
"This will need to be fixed," said Eve.
When they heard a tower bell ring, Eugene suggested,
"You should get on the local carriage if it comes by here and get home, miss. I will get this fixed and bring it back home," Eugene suggested, but Eve shook her head. She wasn't going to leave him here by himself. She said,
"The town isn't too far. Let us see if we can get help."
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