Chapter 42

“WHAT’S that, milady? I cannot hear you well,” he stated as Emily was trying to control her anger right now. She smiled at the stranger before she pointed at his foot.
“Will you please remove it so that I can pass through?” Emily said in her sweet voice before the man’s beard was moving. She thought the man was trying to smile but it was hard to tell.
“And what will I get for moving my foot, milady?”
“A cozy feeling in your heart for doing something well?” Emily replied as the amber-eyed man was amused by her statement. Then, he moved the leg before she was nodding at the man.
“Thank you, kind sir,”
“Say, what’s your name, maiden?” The stranger asked her as she was trying to think of anything but the creepy feeling that she had whenever a man was asking for her name.
Give a fake name, any name!
“Emily, sir,” she replied before smacking herself in her mind as she did something that she was trying to avoid, giving this stranger her real name.
“Emily, such a beautiful name,” the man stated before Emily was nodding at him.
“Well, pardon me then. I am in a bit of a hurry, sir,” she said as she was moving to the counter before the bartender was looking at her. Emily smiled.
“What are you having, dear?”
“Oh, I am so sorry to disturb you. I’ve just arrived in town and I was wondering if you could show me the way to the Kain Estate, ma’am,” Emily stated as the bartender was looking at her up and down.
“Are you the new maid?” The bartender asked as Emily was beaming at her.
“Why, yes. How can you guess?” She asked the bartender before she shrugged.
“Servant’s talk. Anyway, when you exit the tavern, you have to go left and then you will walk for 3 miles before you will see the estate that you were looking for,” the bartender said as she was putting the mug on the counter. Emily nodded before she smiled at the bartender.
“Thank you for your directions, ma’am,” she said before she put in a copper, the currency that was a synonym for a penny, for her service. The bartender nodded at her before Emily left the tavern.
She noticed that the man who was sitting at the table, who was blocking her way earlier, was gone. She shrugged before she gathered her skirts she made her way to the Kain Estate. Emily smiled as the new day was upon her and she couldn’t wait to leave the gentry behind.

IAN was looking at his red jaws and neck before he was nodding at his valet. The valet went away as he was rubbing his face with a towel. It had been so long that he was clean-shaven like a baby.
I guess it would not hurt to keep a light stubble once in a while, he mused before he was smirking as he looked at the sprawling city of St. Betown, the city that was under his care.
Ian was looking at the coat that he would be adorning. It was black to hide his white shirt underneath before he was getting ready for his day. He was not looking forward to this.
You will know when the time comes, the young queen’s voice was filling his eardrum as he was scoffing at the statement.
“Like damnation, I would let anyone control my life,” he mumbled before he dropped the towel into the dirty basket as he was making his way to the study room. It was almost midnight when all of the gentries would be doing their work.
Including Ian.
He went to the dining hall before he went to work as he needed to fill his stomach for some light lunch. It was weird on Niapachad Island. The night was the day for the locals and the day was the time for sleeping. It would be weird for tourists who were not familiar with the system.
Not that they have any outsiders among them anyway.
The rules of Niapachad Island stated that the locals cannot leave the island unless it was on official business and the outsiders who wished to come here must have a special license that they must go through interviews and tests that would say if they qualified or not. Even though tourism was not rewarding, the island was still one of the wealthiest countries in the world.
Ian was sighing as he was sitting at the dining table before he was looking at the morning paper, The Island, for the news headline today. It was nothing special really until he spotted some familiar names in the papers.
It was the missing names that were disappearing around the island.
It has been going on for years now, starting with the killing of the 7th Duke and Duchess of Belikov, Niklaus’ parents, as well as the carriage accident of the Lord and Lady Moore.
Nonetheless, the accident involved the royal family as well, leaving the young Queen Arabella to take the throne when she was only 18 years old. And with the help of her husband, everything was right with the world.
Ian was shaking his head before he was sipping on his blood-laced tea. His household knew that he was from the Higher Court, which meant he kept a very dark secret.
The secret was protected from the locals for their safety.
But of course, the servants and maids and cooks that worked for the gentry have been keeping this secret throughout their generations and it has never been discussed outside of the household unless they were talking about Lord Matthew Davis and how he was escaping the Higher Court just because he did not like the system.
But his youngest daughter, Lady Rebecca Davis, who was now the 8th Duchess of Belikov, knew that her father was a Vampyre and her husband was as well. And the last time Ian was visiting them, the duchess was wearing the mark of Vampyre’s bride. Only she did not cover it up on her neck of Niklaus’ claim. And since they were not in public, they were forgiven.
Ian sighed before he looked at the scrambled eggs as well as some bread to fill his stomach. The Vampyre can eat some human food without having any allergies, but they need blood to sustain their bodies and to function properly throughout the day. The marquis sighed again before the butler stated that he had a visitor.
It was the new employee to replace his maid who ran away with his footman to elope. He nodded at the butler before he took a scoop of the eggs and ate them.
This time, he smiled for whatever reason it might be.

EMILY was looking at the giant cobblestone castle that stood in front of her. She was blinking her eyes before she was knocking on the door of the servant’s quarter. A maid was opening the door before she was invited inside the estate.
“The master has requested that you will be attending to the marquis. Make no mistake as you are being recommended by someone important. It would not look good on her if you made the master mad,” the maid stated as Emily was nodding at her.
They were walking down the servants’ quarter before Emily was given her bed and a place to put her stuff. She was arranging the stuff before she was tying her hair into a bun and was ready to get started.
“You’re ready?” The maid asked before Emily nodded at her.
“We don’t have much time. The marquis will be in the study room all day. You are not allowed to meet him anywhere in the house. We have to move like shadows. Whenever he walks by, we have to disappear,” the maid said as she was showing Emily the master’s bedchamber for her to work on her very first day.
It’s time to get her hands dirty.