Claimed by the Prince of Darkness-Chapter 119: Sound of a Ticking Heart

In the Slaters’ drawing room, a low fire burned in the fireplace, its gentle crackle swallowed by the rustle of fabrics laid upon the table.

"What do you think about this, milady?" the merchant asked, his hands clasped respectfully as Lady Irina examined the quality of the silk.

"Hm," the vampiress hummed, her red eyes gliding over the material before she remarked, "I suppose it will turn beautiful if we pair it with the translucent chiffon along the neckline and the ends of the sleeves." Her gaze softened as it fell upon the little Ruelle in her arms. "What do you think, darling?"

Right now, Ruelle sat upon the vampiress’s lap, her small hands still on the sides of her skirts, her feet dangling above the carpet. One of Lady Irina’s arms rested carefully around the young girl’s waist and the unfamiliar closeness made Ruelle sit unmoving.

"The young miss seems quite overwhelmed by the number of fabrics," the merchant stated with a polite smile.

But the truth was that no one had ever held Ruelle like this until now. She did not know where to place her hands or if she was allowed to lean.

Lady Irina glanced down at the child’s careful posture, a quiet chuckle slipping past her lips. She remarked,

"You must be feeling weary sitting so long. I promise we shall not keep you long."

Mrs. Belmont, who sat on the plush chair, spoke, "Ruelle appreciates it as much as I do, milady, for taking the time to arrange the merchant for us." She took a sip from the teacup she held between her fingers.

The vampiress smiled before leaning forward and asking Ruelle, "Is there anything you like here? You may choose anything you wish."

"Anything?" Ruelle looked uncertain and the vampiress nodded. The girl’s gaze drifted across the table of colours and her eyes then paused upon a velvety dark red fabric, rich and deep like something meant for another world. She pointed. "That one?"

Mrs. Belmont’s eyes followed her daughter’s choice, and her eyebrows furrowed. She said,

"That will not suit you, dear. It feels rather... grown-up. More appropriate for someone like Lady Irina herself," she offered the compliment to the lady with grace.

"No red..." Ruelle’s eyes lowered at once, as though she had failed in the single task entrusted to her.

"It is a striking choice which will draw attention," Lady Irina said with a hint of pride in her voice. Ruelle glanced up towards the vampiress, who continued, "Perhaps not for today, but for the future, when you are grown. And I think your mother will agree it shall suit you beautifully then." She lifted her gaze toward the human woman with gentle insistence, asking, "Is that not so, Mrs. Belmont?"

"Of course," came the stiff response from Mrs. Belmont.

For the smallest moment, Mrs. Belmont wondered whether Harold had made a mistake in choosing Ruelle instead of Caroline for the alliance.

The family they were bound to was of old pureblood lineage. Lords among their kind and unlike the vampiresses she had encountered before, Lady Irina seemed almost eager to lavish such attention upon the Ruelle.

"Maude, send it over to the tailor with the rest of them later so that it is ready," Lady Irina ordered the housekeeper. She turned to the merchant and pointed. "Let us have this one and the one beneath the green you showed earlier too."

"Yes, milady." The merchant bowed, swiftly setting the chosen fabrics aside.

And while Mrs. Belmont busied herself selecting fabrics for her own gowns, Lucian quietly stepped into the room.

"I am glad you are here," Lady Irina said and caught the faint scent of damp soil from her son. "I was just about to send Maude to fetch you. How were your lessons?"

"Good," came the curt response from Lucian, his expression unbothered by the display of fabrics.

Mrs. Belmont tried to engage with the young boy by offering, "Lucian, you should pick a fabric too."

Lucian stared at the woman. He replied, "These are women’s fabrics."

"It is," Mrs. Belmont smiled. "I meant you could pick for Ruelle."

"Why?" he asked.

Mrs. Belmont laughed, placing her teacup aside, "Well, it is only proper that she grow accustomed to your preferences."

"Why?" Lucian questioned, and this time Mrs. Belmont’s smile faltered.

Lady Irina’s voice slipped in before Mrs. Belmont would turn flustered, "Lucian, Mrs. Belmont only wished for you to feel included."

At the same time, a servant arrived at the door and bowed deeply, informing, "Lady Francoise and Lady Simone are here, milady."

"Bring them in," Lady Irina replied, before turning to Mrs. Belmont with an easy smile. "Francoise is my sister-in-law, and Lady Simone serves as governess to several young ladies from the noble households. I was thinking we might arrange for her to spend some hours with Ruelle at Belmonts’ residence."

Mrs. Belmont’s fingers tightened slightly around the teacup she just took hold of. She responded, "You trouble yourself for nothing, Lady Irina. There is still time for such matters."

"Ruelle learns quickly," Lady Irina informed, her tone leaving little room for dismissal. As she spoke, Ruelle’s small hand found the vampiress’s fingers. "I would hate to see such promise go unshaped. We wives may not take part in the men’s affairs, but knowledge is never wasted."

Ruelle gently pressed the vampiress’s fingers in a playful rhythm, as though practising notes upon an invisible pianoforte. And Lady Irina did not interrupt her, allowing the hesitant touch to continue, the vampiress’ hand yielding easily beneath the little one’s uncertain music.

Ruelle, who was playing with the lady’s long, elegant fingers, noticed how they intertwined and curled around hers. Giving her heart a small jolt, she looked up to find Lady Irina looking at her with a smile.

"You haven’t told me yet what you want as your late Christmas present yet," Lady Irina hummed. "Perhaps a pianoforte? No?"

Ruelle fiddled with her fingers before whispering, "Ribbons."

"Ribbons?" Lady Irina was taken aback before a smile broke on her lips. "Are you sure? You don’t want something more?"

Ruelle shook her head and repeated, "Ribbon is enough..."

The vampiress gave a nod and replied, "I know just the place in the town where they make excellent ribbons. Perhaps," she turned to Lucian, who was listening to them and continued, "Lucian might like to accompany and find something he might like?"

"Why does Lucian need a ribbon? Is he playing dress-up?" came a young boy’s voice from the doorway.

"It is to tie you to a tree," Lucian replied without looking up, his tone flat. A soft snort followed, and two vampiresses entered the drawing room with their children.

"Good afternoon, Lady Irina," Lady Simone offered a bow.

"We were passing by after attending Mrs. Robeles’ soiree and thought to drop in," said the taller of the two vampiress, her dark hair swept into an elegant knot. Her gaze moved across the room, pausing briefly on Mrs. Belmont. "But it seems we are interrupting." She then introduced herself, "Francoise Ravencroft."

Mrs. Belmont rose at once and offered a bow. "Megan Belmont."

Lady Irina gestured toward the seating. "We were looking through what the merchant has this season. No interruption, Fran. Do join us."

When the pureblooded vampire children stepped out of the room, Ruelle slid quietly from Lady Irina’s lap, her small shoes making no sound against the carpet as she followed the children.

When the children had wandered far enough from the adults into a quieter corridor, one of the young vampiresses clapped her hands together.

"Let us play hide and seek!"

"No," Lucian replied at once, his expression tightening into a faint frown.

"Oh, come on," she insisted, planting both hands on her hips. "It is much more fun to hide in the Slaters’ Mansion. There are a hundred places no one would ever find." She turned to the blond boy beside her. "What do you say, Sawyer?"

"We should," Sawyer agreed eagerly. And then turned to Ruelle, "You will play won’t you? Angie is playing too."

Little Ruelle nodded and Lucian stared at her for a brief second.

"Then it is decided!" the young vampiress declared anyway, raising her hands with triumphant certainty. "Stack your hands."

One by one, they placed their hands atop one another. Sawyer’s first. The other vampiress’s next. Then Angelina’s reluctant fingers were on top of it, then Ruelle’s and Lucian placed his hand last.

The vampiress announced, pulling away, "Sawyer, you are the seeker."

"Alright, everyone hide!" Sawyer ran to the end of the corridor, turned to face the wall and began counting backwards.

The others scattered at once. Ruelle slipped toward the nearest open doorway, but before she could cross the threshold, Lucian caught the back of her coat and pulled her silently in the opposite direction.

He led her behind a tall cabinet which was behind the chimney, positioning himself between her and the space behind him. Having a human in the game was like carrying a ticking clock, one a pureblooded vampire could hear all too clearly.

"Lucian," Ruelle whispered, while the pureblooded vampire had turned his ears to pick up where Sawyer could be right now. When he turned to her and raised his eyebrows, she asked, "Why are you hiding with me?"

"So that you don’t have to seek," came Lucian’s response. He then questioned, "Do you know how to hide from a vampire?" and Ruelle shook her head. "You look for the closest thing that will camouflage your heartbeat. Like a ticking clock or gushing water."

Ruelle stared at him for a moment before she looked around the room. There was neither a clock nor water in sight. So she looked back at him.

When they heard footsteps, Lucian raised his finger to his lips to tell her to stay quiet and then parted his lips. Sounds of a ticking clock escaped from his lips and Ruelle stared at him in awe. Each tick-tock was synced with her heartbeat.

When the footsteps faded, so did the sound of the tick-tock and Ruelle commented, "You are amazing, Lucian!"

"Thanks," Lucian whispered back with a smile. It was a skill his tutor during his lessons of combat had taught him, rather than using brute strength of what a pureblooded vampire possessed. As if wanting to try to mimic what he just did, the young girl’s lips rounded, and she tried to make the tick-tock sound. He said, "It needs to be sharper than that."

Ruelle followed, and while trying it, she breathed in too hard and her nose tickled. She sneezed, "Ac-choo!"

Suddenly loud footsteps came tumbling in the corridor and Sawyer burst open the door. "AH-HA! So I found you, cousin and the human!" with a wide grin. "The day has finally come where I have finally caught you!"

"Lucian is easy to find." Ruelle’s eyebrows furrowed. "You are bad than me..."

Sawyer’s mouth fell open at her words, while Lucian stepped out of the room as if accepting his turn to seek. Sawyer quickly hurried outside and then announced loudly, "Lesitte and Angie! Lucian is the next seeker!"

When Lucian began to count, Ruelle quickly followed the other pureblooded vampires. Sawyer was the first one to disappear, as if he already knew where he was going to hide, while his twin disappeared the next. When the other young vampiress called Lesitte was going to hide, she caught Ruelle still dawdling around.

"What are you doing standing there?" Lesitte asked, looking back and forth as if Lucian was going to appear in the corridor anytime now. She took hold of Ruelle’s hand and dragged her to the storage room. "You should hide here."

But the vampiress like the other vampires, knew all it would take was the heartbeat, and she scratched her head. "I know!" She whispered before hurrying Ruelle to an empty cupboard and urging her to get in. "Stay here. The double doors should make it less obvious."

And just like that, Ruelle was put inside the cupboard and the cupboard doors were closed before Lesitte ran to hide too.

For the first few seconds, Ruelle stood motionless inside the cupboard while the game had begun.

A moment later, she heard the door click and soon the darkness began to creep in with no trace of light and fear slipped inside her bones.

Her breath turned short, with each inhale shallow and sharp. A tightness coiled around her chest, winding tighter with every heartbeat that thudded too loudly in her ears.

Ruelle raised her hands that shook like a leaf as panic blurred her thoughts. And for that moment, it felt like the cupboard had no doors but only walls. Locked by the memory of the moments when she had been locked in the past.

She pushed the doors, but they didn’t seem to budge and her small hands banged on the doors in panic and anxiety.

"L–Let me out..." A sob escaped from her trembling lips. "P–Please—" tears spilled on her cheeks, one trailing after another.

Before her knees could give away, the doors of the cupboard clicked and opened, light falling back in. Through the blur of tears, she saw a dark silhouette framed in the doorway.

The firm, cold hand pulled her trembling hand to have her step out of the cupboard as her breath hitched.

Ruelle quickly moved forward, her small fingers clutching the sides of his coat with her face pressed into him and she sobbed.

"Why did you go in there?" Lucian frowned. His hand came up before settling against the back of her head. His fingers moved in slow, absent strokes through her hair, like one might soothe a frightened animal.

Ruelle shook her head against him, unable to form words, her breath still broken.

Behind him, hurried footsteps of the children appeared, who had heard the sound of banging and sobs. Lisette looked back and forth before a look of guilt formed on her young face. She offered,

"I only meant to help her hide. I thought it would be the best place..."

"It locks by itself," Lucian gave her a small stare.

"I am sorry, Ruelle," Lesitte apologised. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"A spider must have scared her," Sawyer looked around the cupboard.

Lucian’s hand stilled briefly against Ruelle’s hair. He glanced once toward the dark interior of the cupboard, then down at the girl clinging to him. He remarked, "That should be enough hide-and-seek for the day," and he stroked her hair until her sobs softened into calm breaths.