Chapter 111

DAN did not expect that Lady Caroline Hurst would have claws. But she did and she used it to slap his face. Everything was getting numb but he did not acknowledge that he was intrigued to get to know her even better.
“Caroline, what are you doing?!” Lady Hurst was getting paranoid when her daughter was slapping a Viscount, nonetheless has a connection to the queen by being on the Higher Court.
Or so they seem to forget about that now.
“I am so sorry, my lord, for my daughter’s behavior. She was not supposed to be acting like a spoiled brat,” Lord Hurst stated when Caroline was still glaring at him. Dan smiled before he pulled Caroline to his side.
Might as well get used to it, kitten, Dan mused when Caroline was glaring at him. Then, Dan turned to look at the old couple.
“It’s no big deal, really. We are nothing but jesting with each other. Caroline was so happy that she has to slap me to think that this engagement is real,” Dan said as Caroline was struggling to get out of his grip. But she was not that strong to overcome Dan.
“Let me go or I will break your finger, my lord. I hate to think that your mistress will be missing it,” Caroline hissed to Dan in a quiet manner that her parents would think that she was muttering something to him in a shy manner. Dan smiled before he turned to look at his fiancée.
“Why, that’s a wonderful idea, my dear. I think we can make sure that everyone is invited in two weeks and I think the young queen Arabella would love to get to know you better,” Dan said which made Caroline narrowed her eyes at him. Then, he turned to her parents.
“We will be getting married in two weeks. I hope that would not be a burden to you,” Dan said as her parents were speechless. Then, he added.
“On second thought, do not worry about expenses, I will cover it all,” Dan said as he turned to look at his bride, smiling down on her.
“I don’t want to wait anymore and I think this has been long enough for us to plan our wedding, right my dear?” Dan asked and before Caroline can answer him, he kissed her again.
This time, it was in front of her parents.
*****
“I swear, I will kill him in his sleep. He would not be getting any wedding night after all” Caroline said as she was being fitted at the seamstress that was known as Lady Ivashkov. She heard that she was the one to look for when you need a wedding gown. The Duchess of Belikov, Marchioness of Kain, and the Countess of Raine would all recommend her to get things done.
“More to the right, sweetheart,” she said as Lady Ivashkov was fitting her wedding gown that was in ivory. Caroline grimaced as she was looking like she was one of the undead. Her skin was so pale in that color.
“What is it, child? You don’t like my design?” the seamstress asked before Caroline turned to look at her. She shook her head before she was smiling at Lady Ivashkov.
“No, it was not that. It was more like of the color that made my skin so pale that I felt like I was a corpse bride rather than the future bride of a Viscount,” she said as Lady Ivashkov was tapping her chin.
“Hmm, you’re right. This color does not suit you at all. Why do I even listen to that Viscount when it comes to this?” the seamstress mumbled before she was fixing the gown and then she nodded at herself as if she was satisfied with her work.
“So, what do you think the color should be, my dear? I can think of some color that might go well with this dress but I want to hear what are your thoughts on them,” she said as Caroline was looking at the seamstress.
“Are you asking for my opinion?” Caroline asked before she blinked her eyes at the seamstress. Lady Ivashkov smiled before she nodded.
“Of course! A happy bride is a happy life on her wedding day. So, what you think your wedding dress should be?” she asked Caroline before she was biting her lower lips. Then, she remembered the first time that Danial Cutler ever laid eyes on her.
It was the night of the ball of her birthday.
“Well, since you ask…” Caroline said before Lady Ivashkov was looking at her smirk. Another lord to be outsmarted by his bride thought the seamstress before they got to work to surprise Viscount Danial Cutler forever set his eyes on Lady Caroline Hurst that night.

“I see that your humor was no escaping your sense, Kain,” Dan said as he was standing in the church that was considered a hot spot for a Vampyre to be inside. But of course, those theories were only a myth and the lords of the Higher court were still alive.
“Oh, don’t be a sourpuss, Dan. You know it will be your time eventually and I have to say, I cannot expect anything from you at all. It was like a dream that you have to find a bride and was ready to marry her. Who is she anyway? Anyone that we knew?” Ian asked Dan before the Viscount was rolling his eyes at his friend.
“No, she was not from our circle but I think our queen might know her,” Dan whispered to Ian as he was smirking at the Viscount.
“Well, I think you have been playing right in her hands again. And to think that you might be escaping the fate that befalls us all,” Ian whispered before Niklaus was snickering behind them. Dan turned to glare at the duke before he was holding his hands up in a surrender mode.
“I swear, why I ever invite you guys anyway. And where is my cousin? I thought he would be making an appearance on my wedding day,” Dan said as he was looking at the anxious crowd that was gathering in the church.
Some of them were his relatives and the others were from the Higher court. Only Lord and Lady Hurst represent Caroline’s family. Seriously, they do not have relatives or what? Dan mused before the Wedding March started playing on the organ as the huge oak doors opened.
Then, Dan was blinking his eyes a few times.
At the entrance of the church, there was a lady in red that stood proudly with a bouquet of roses in her hands. Her face was covered with a red veil that was thin enough for Dan to make out her feature.
I thought I said that the wedding gown should be in ivory, Dan thought before his friends were whistling behind him.
“Dan is so not going to like this,”
“He will have to control her,”
“I never expect the Viscount will be finding something in his bride to match,”
Dan turned to glare at his friends as Ian, Niklaus and Tom were smirking at him. The Viscount rolled his eyes before the lady in red was walking toward him with a confident stride. He never saw Caroline be so confident before.
The wedding march was still playing until Caroline was standing in front of him. He was holding his breath before he took a whiff of perfume that she wore for the wedding. It was tangy and sweet, like lemon. He wanted to taste it on her skin though.
But of course, his daydreaming was being interrupted when the bishop was clearing his throat and he was looking at the crowd before he started his speech on the holy matrimony.
“Dearly beloved, we gather here all today to witness these two souls be bind in a vow that was sacred…”

COME on, Caroline. Do not freak out, do not freak out. You can do this and there is nothing to be afraid of, Caroline chanted in her mind as she was staring at her husband to be through the thin veil that was covering her face.
She never thought that Danial Cutler, the Viscount of Stonelockteco would be so handsome in his pristine black suit with a red sash that was slung from his shoulder to his waist, indicating his status in society.
And Caroline cannot believe that her parents agreed for her to be married off to a Viscount that she barely knows for weeks.
What am I going to do about this? She mused before Dan was clearing his throat to get her attention. She snapped her head to the Viscount before the bishop was whispering to her.
“My lady, your vow,” he said quietly before Caroline was breathing. She can do this. She has practiced a few times and this will be working quite nicely to suit this purpose right here.
“Right,” she whispered before she was taking a deep breath and she was closing her eyes before she was staring the Viscount through the veil in front of her face.
“I, Lady Caroline Hurst, vow to cherish and protect our marriage so that we can live until the end of time. I swear that I will only love you, Lord Danial Cutler, for the rest of my life as long as my heart is beating and there are breaths in my lungs. I know that we don’t know much about each other but I know that we can learn to love one another. I swear my loyalty will never be thawed by something else other than you and you have my heart only reserved for you,” Caroline said the mini-speech that she has composed and rewrite with the help of her ladies’ maid who was poetic at heart.
She can hear that the crowd was silent around them before the bishop was turning to look at the Viscount. Caroline can see that the Viscount was staring at her, not blinking once as she recited her vows.
“And your vow, my lord?” the bishop asked before Danial was blinking at her before he turned to look at the bishop.
“Right, of course,” he said before he was reciting his vow and Caroline was dizzy from her vow. The bishop was nodding at them before he urged them to put the wedding bands on their fingers.
“With the power vested in me by the queen of Niapachad Island, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride, my lord,” the bishop said before Danial was pushing the veil up her head and then gripped her nape.
“Now, you’re mine. Forever, Caroline,” he whispered to her lips before he kissed her.