Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 58: The legacy room

One by one, the flames on the chandelier candles were extinguishing for natural light to gradually take over.

Silas said nothing and simply walked along the hallway while Arabella followed in his steps, clutching at her stomach as though it hung in place by nothing but a thin thread.

To drown out the deafening screechings in her own head, she resorted to focusing on the distant voices of the daytime staff who'd usually gather in the kitchens before starting their shifts every day.

They glided along the walls as whispers at times and mutters at others, barely intelligible but they sure had the merit of keeping her mind occupied since her other alternative was to... Stare at Silas' back.

The vampire finally halted in front of a specific door on the ground floor. Arabella immediately noted it was the same one they'd used to reach the trophy room the last time he'd invited her to follow him.

The spiraling staircase looked every bit as familiar as the previous time and the scent of... Nothing remained. The illusion that the air had been drained of every and all odor... Or was it an illusion?

That day, instead of stalking the main hallway leading to the trophy room, Silas took a turn that had barely been visible until then, niched in one of the many corners that were governed by the power struggle between the fire of the torches, and the complet darkness that would reign supreme without them.

That one being narrower, Arabella earned the impression those gray walls were closing in on them. She had to make an abrupt stop upon realizing that Silas had done the same in front of her. Once anew, a painting stood between them and what Arabella assumed was their destination. Although this time the art piece seemed to extend endlessly higher in length instead of width like the other one.

It was the portrait of a displeased yet beautiful looking woman. Dressed in a red gown, she glared down at them from where she sat.

Silas pulled the familiar dagger from his sleeve and made a small cut in his palm which he placed flat on the canvas that slowly absorbed every drop of it clean the moment he'd taken his hand back.

The portrait detached from the wall on one side like a door, allowing them to pass through.

Not a speck of dust in sight, the room resembled the trophy room in its architecture however, instead of the glass cases posted all across, multiple portraits were plastered on the walls.

Of gracious men and women, they were, a strict gaze on them, none of them seemed to know how to smile.

"Welcome to the legacy room," Silas finally broke the silence around them.

Arabella's eyes landed on the great golden chests right underneath the frame of each painting.

"This is Marceline Kyran, my late aunt," the vampire approached one of the portraits. That of an intimidating looking woman that very much reminded Arabella of Lady Persephone, "We lost her in the great war too,"

"Is she...?" before considering her words, she'd already uttered most of her question.

"Yes, she is my mother's sister," he answered.

Silas finally looked her way, at her still puffy and reddened eyes. She had spoken in such a frail voice that he thought her vocal cords would completely crumble before ending her sentence.

"Come this way," he walked away, in a precise direction.

Arabella followed without a complaint, strolling by the portraits lining their path towards one painting in particular.

One that harbored the figure of yet another young woman, though it captivated Arabella's attention due to the sheer resemblance between them two. Besides the eye color, almost every other trait was shared.

"Meet the late Nerina Eleazar. Her golden eyes always reminded me of my father for she was his niece," Silas paused, "She died by his side on the same day,"

As if she'd needed the extra pressure, at those words, even the rumbling of thunder outside had been completely drowned. Arabella's heart began to race in her chest once more.

Not only did her ancestor take his father away from him, but he'd also extended the same... Courtesy to his cousin.

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However, Silas ignored the turmoil he'd caused within her through his recent words, "From what I saw, the color of your dress was green and golden, wasn't it?"

"Yes," she muttered.

The vampire approached the large, golden chest by the foot of the portrait and opened it. From its heart, and after a few seconds of rummaging through its contents, he pulled a magnificent dress fashioned of the same materials and colors as the one MR Kallum had tailored for her.

Naturally, the patterns adorning the gown were quite different and yet... Arabella could care less about that.

"Oh! My...,"

As though entranced by its beauty, she instinctively marched towards it, arms extending its way.

"It is not your size, but that can be fixed," Silas looked between the dress and Arabella's body.

Upon touching it, the young woman found her voice again, "You would allow me to wear it?" more tears welled up in her eyes, though something told Silas those were of happiness.

"It is my understanding that Mr Kallum based his choice of color on your eyes," he let go of the gown for her to hold it, "In Nerina's case, the golden ornaments were to compliment her eyes. As for the green, the tailor seemed to think it was the only color that married gold all that well, no other came close to competing,"