Chapter 49

ARABELLA was sipping on her blood-laced tea before a knock interrupted her. She glanced over her shoulder and it was her butler that was coming to give her a letter.
Arabella was putting the cup down before she opened the seal of the letter. She was reading the letter before she smirked.
It seems that my plan worked. After all that, she mused as she was folding the letter before her husband came into the study room that Arabella loved to spend her time in.
“I see that you are in a pleasant mood today, my love. Is there something that you wanted to share with me?” Aiden asked his wife. Arabella was smirking at him.
“Well, why don’t you look at this?” She said before Aiden took the letter from her hand. Aiden read the contents before he shook his head. He looked at his wicked wife as Arabella was sipping on her blood-laced tea.
Everything has to be blood-laced for these aristocrats.
“One of your plans is working. I wonder what will happen next,” Aiden said as he put the letter on the desk before he went to kiss his wife’s neck. Arabella was sighing as she was angling for his kisses on her exposed skin.
Arabella was putting on her chemise as she was getting ready for bed. Aiden was whispering something naughty in her ear as she was smirking while gripping his hair.
“I think I want to have you to myself now,” Aiden said huskily before Arabella was closing her eyes.
“Then, what are we waiting for?” She said before Aiden turned to look at him and claimed her lips. She moaned before they tumbled into bed, knowing that one of the lords had married again.

EMILY was sucking a deep breath as Lady Ivashkov was putting on the tight corset on her body. She tried to tell her that she was too tight to breathe before her face was red like a tomato.
“Oh my, am I pulling it too tight?” She asked Emily, as Emily just smiled at the tailor. She was cursing in a foreign language that Emily had never heard before as she was loosening the corset a bit when Emily was sighing in relief.
“Thank you. That feels much better,” she said as she was looking at herself in the mirror.
After her identity was discovered by the Marquis of Kain, who was also the mysterious lord that she was dancing to at the masquerade ball—Ian—she had been instructed to get the fitting done.
Her fiancé stated that they would be married immediately. Emily was sighing, as she did not know that she would be marrying one of the Higher Court lords.
Like Becca once said, what if she was not good enough? What if Ian decided that she was not fit to be a marchioness? Would he divorce her? She would be a divorcee and be frowned upon by polite society.
Emily sighed before she looked at the white wedding gown that Ian instructed the tailor to put on her body. It seemed that Ian knew he did not want any surprises for his wedding day.
Maybe I should be like Becca for once, Emily mused before she was looking at the tailor, who was busy doing her job.
“Lady Ivashkov?” Emily started as the tailor was looking up from altering her gown. Emily smiled as she was looking at the lady in question.
“Would you rather have this color on me or do you have something in mind that would make my complexion even better?” Emily taunted her as the tailor was thinking about the color.
“It was dreadful for you, dear. I think I have a better color that would suit you better,” she said, as Emily was smiling at her.
“Then, would you rather have that color on me?” She said as Lady Ivashkov was arching her eyebrows at Emily.
Talking about being courteous in public, Emily mused before she smiled at the tailor.
“But the marquis instructed me to use this color—”
“But you don’t want your latest creation to be boring, right? Look at the Duchess’ wedding gown. It was magnificent and your business is booming. Considering this as a way for you to boost your sales,” Emily said as Lady Ivashkov was tapping her chin with her finger. Emily smiled when the tailor was looking at her.
“You’re right. I should use this opportunity to get the audience to know about my creation. Oh, Emily dear, you’re a genius!” She said as Emily was smiling at her.
As long as I can get my rebellion streak, I am good, she mused before she looked at the tailor as Lady Ivashkov was getting the golden silk fabric to wrap her body.
“Now, let’s get to work, shall we?” Lady Ivashkov said as Emily was smiling at her.
This is going to be so much fun now, Ian, Emily mused as the tailor was draping the fabric on her body.

IAN was looking around in the prayer house he wanted to curse. If he did not know any better, Ian thought that his best friend, the Duke of Belikov, Niklaus, was taking revenge on him.
“You just have to play it well, don’t you?” Ian said as the duke was smirking at him. He glared at Niklaus, who was chuckling at him.
“Come on, we have to keep our secrets, right? And what better way to tell the world that we are normal than by having a ceremony in the prayer house?” Niklaus said as Ian was gripping his cravat before he was looking at the familiar royal couple.
The young Queen Arabella Dragomir and her husband, the Prince Consort, Aiden Dragomir.
Ian sighed because they were back in Royal Molftus as he found out that Emily the new maid was Lady Emily Moore, who was the daughter of the late Lord and Lady Moore.
She was trying to get away from the gentry lives as she was giving up on her lonely, abandoned life with the death of her parents and the disappearance of her brother.
I think I can change that now for her. For us. Ian mused before the priest was coming into view before the Wedding March was playing, as the huge oak doors were opened and his bride was walking down the aisle.
What. The. Damnation. What?!
Ian was blinking his eyes as he was looking at the golden silk wedding gown with lace and sheer that adorning Emily’s lithe body. He could not believe his eyes as he had given specific instructions to the tailor, Lady Ivashkov, to use white fabric.
But no, of course not. This was Lady Emily Moore. Her best friend was the Duchess of Belikov, Lady Rebecca Dragomir, who pulled this exact stunt when she was married to Niklaus. Ian closed his eyes as the duke chuckled lowly.
I should have known better, he mused as the crowd was whispering about his bride.
“Looks like your life will be interesting after all, Ian,” Niklaus said quietly before Emily was standing in front of Ian as the archbishop was clearing his throat.
“Dearly beloved Lords and Ladies, we gathered here today—”

EMILY was breathing hard under the brown veil that she was adorned with at the suggestion of Lady Ivashkov. She said that it would match the gown well instead of the white veil. Emily was gripping the bouquet too tightly now as the archbishop was clearing his throat. She turned to look at him.
“My lady, the ring,” he said quietly before Emily looked at the rings that were on display. It was a yellow topaz engagement ring and platinum wedding band, thanks to the Viscount of Vyckos, who was a close friend of Ian.
“Right,” she said as she was taking the wedding band and holding it in her shaky fingers.
The archbishop cleared his throat before she looked at Ian through the veil. The marquis was looking at her with his intense amber eyes, the same color as her engagement ring.
Maybe that’s the mark that I was his wife, Emily mused before the archbishop was reciting the vows for the nuptial.
“Do you, Lady Emily Moore, take this man as your lawfully wedded husband, for better or worse, in rich and poor, to cherish each other as long as you both shall live?” The priest asked before Emily replied to him.
“I do,” she said as she slipped the wedding band into Ian’s left hand. Then, the archbishop urged Ian to take the engagement ring and wedding band to slip on her left finger.
“And do you, Lord Dorian Hassildor, Marquis of Kain, take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife, for better or worse, rich and poor, to cherish each other as long as you both shall live?” He said as Ian was smiling at Emily.
Her heart skipped a beat.
“I do,” he said before he was slipping on the rings. Emily felt the heaviness of the rings before the archbishop continued.
“With the power vested in me by Queen Arabella Dragomir of Niapachad Island, I declare you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride,” the archbishop said as Ian was removing her veil. Emily was looking at his handsome face before Ian was smirking as he leaned closer to her.
“Now, you cannot run away from me, Emmy,” he whispered before he was claiming his kiss.
The second kiss that she shared with Ian after that night in the garden. She could still feel the effect that he had on her as Ian was pulling her closer to him. Then, he broke it.
“We cannot show it to the public. Your kissing face is only reserved for me,” Ian said as he was holding her waist possessively before they turned to the crowd and they cheered and applauded for the new union with one of the Lords of the Higher Court.

ARABELLA was happy to see that Lady Emily Moore had been married off to one of the lords that she knew would take care of Emily in the way that she deserved.
Considering that Lady Moore was one of her mother’s ladies in waiting, it was only fitting that Arabella found a husband who would take care of her daughter.
“May you rest in peace, Lord and Lady Moore,” she whispered a prayer as they were in the prayer house.
The young queen knew fully well that the archbishop would call them abominations if he knew that Lady Emily was married to one of the Vampyre that infested the island. It was not their fault if their bodies decided to improve back in their ancestors’ period.
And now, Arabella would do anything to make sure that their secret would not be out in public until it was the right time for them to tell the citizens of Niapachad Island the truth. She only hoped that it would be accepted gracefully because she wished the best for the place where she called home.