Married To The Mad Vampire Lord

Belle, who had been sitting with Rav and Evenly, with Angel nestled silently in Rav's arms and peering at the crowded space with alarmed eyes, had already received more dance requests than she could count, more than she had ever received in her entire life, in the past hour since they had stepped into the ballroom after paying their respects to the king, who was sitting on the balcony, and whose eyes she occasionally felt on her from across the space.

Not just the king, but many of the officials had also been keeping their eyes fixed on her, though she paid no heed to them. How could she even pay heed to anything when arrogant men in the hall wouldn't give her a single moment to think with their endless requests for a dance?

She had politely turned down every single one, but she was beginning to feel she could no longer keep the polite smile on her face as she recognized the familiar faces of men who had shamelessly walked up to her, one after another, to reserve a first dance. She knew most of these faces well from when she had been living here.

She had thought surely they would be intimidated by the presence of vampires around her, but perhaps because they realized that Rav and Evenly were turned vampires, the men had instead gained confidence and approached her boldly.

Of course, it wasn't entirely scandalous for a married woman to dance with another man at a ball, but there were limits. Most men would avoid dancing with another man's wife out of respect. Yet here, it was clear that none of them considered her marriage as anything significant. They all believed her union was only by name and would soon come to an end, and so they shamelessly assumed she would accept their advances.

Men who had once sneered at her, who had insulted her to her face without restraint in this very same hall, were now smiling, bowing, and trying to charm her as though the past had never existed.

"Lady Isabelle, I can't explain how you made me speechless. It has been a long time since I last saw you, but what a shame I have never danced with you. Will you do me the honor of reserving a dance for me? It will be wonderful to get reacquainted with each other," another one had said, causing her to grit her teeth behind her stiff smile as she turned him down once more.

And to top it off, none of them seemed capable of realizing they should stop after seeing her turn down their friends. It was as if each man thought himself better than the last and imagined she would be eager to accept his invitation instead.

For the tenth time, while she was beginning to converse quietly with Evenly about the costume of Aragonia, another man came forward to ask for the honor to dance. But before she could repeat her same old polite words of refusal, Rav, who had been sitting silently all this while, spoke up on her behalf. His red eyes narrowed dangerously at the man as he said,

"The lady doesn't want to dance. Is it so hard for you to understand, or do you not even speak the same language, Sire? And tell your friends this as well, the next person who dares to come here and ask again will leave with a body drained of blood."

He gave the warning in his usual blank, toneless voice, but the young human paled instantly as he took the vampire's words seriously. He didn't need to be told twice, he stumbled back and fled as though flames were burning in his trousers.

Rav was never the kind to make threats, but knowing his master would not tolerate men gawking at his wife, he had been forced to intervene with words sharp enough to send the nuisance running.

Belle watched the man flee and then return to his friends, whispering hurriedly to them. She noted how they all glanced in her direction before paling and quickly looking away. None of them was brave enough to approach her again, though they couldn't seem to stop themselves from stealing glances at her from time to time.

When no one else dared to bother her, Belle turned a grateful smile toward Rav. "Thank you," she said softly with a sigh of relief. If Rohan had been sitting with them, she was certain none of the men would have even thought of coming close to her. Yet, with the watchful eyes of the king and his officials on them, Belle was, in a strange way, grateful that her husband was not here at the moment.

She didn't need to be told to know that an expert in studying people had already been summoned to observe the vampires and her every move, carefully reading their behavior. Her husband had always carried a great dislike for too much noise and people. Sitting here, pretending to be unbothered while men pestered his wife, would have certainly pushed him to lose his temper in public.

Nonetheless, Belle couldn't help but wonder if he had already found Claire and gotten the answers they needed. What would the woman reveal to him about Isabelle? The thought stirred impatience in her chest. She couldn't wait to know.

Belle was beginning to drift deeper into her thoughts when Evenly's voice pulled her back into the present.

"Look at that, Belle. I think the nobles have decided to insult another lady instead of you," Evenly murmured, tilting her chin toward a corner of the hall.

Belle followed her gaze, her eyes widening when she realized who the target was this time.

"Eve…" Belle muttered under her breath, stunned, as she watched one of Lady Althea's friends deliberately spill wine onto her sister's gown. Eve gasped loudly, and instead of enduring the humiliation, she retaliated, throwing her own drink onto the lady in return.

But Lady Althea's circle of friends far outnumbered Eve's, and within moments, she was doused with much more wine, poured spitefully over her hair and shoulders.

Lady Louisiana immediately intervened before the situation spiraled further out of control. She strode forward, pulling her youngest daughter behind her with a protective hand as she snapped coldly, "How dare you? All of you will pay for this. Do you hear me?"

One of the young ladies, who had long harbored a strong dislike for the Dawson's younger daughter, dared to retort. "Why, it is only a game we have played in this very hall for years, Your Grace. And you never once said anything when we did it to Lady Isabelle. Besides, Lady Genevieve started it. She called me a pig in a dress, while she herself wore that boring shade of brown. Can you imagine such audacity?"

"Have you forgotten who you are speaking to, young lady?" Lady Louisiana's eyes narrowed down at the young women. "I can make your parents suffer for your ignorance."

Belle's eyes lingered on the commotion at the opposite end of the hall. Many of the other guests, pretending not to notice, carried on with their conversations and dances, as though the drama did not exist. But Lady Louisiana's sharp words had its effect. The young nobles quickly realized that the Dawson family not only held the dukedom but also carried significant influence with the king.

Murmured apologies soon followed, and everyone stepped back, leaving the matter to die down, but not before Eve was given a taste of the very medicine she had so readily and cruelly allowed her sister to swallow for many years.

"I don't feel bad for her," Belle muttered as she turned her eyes away, her face calm, as though those people across the hall were no longer her family.

"I wonder what possessed her to choose a color that dulled her so much," Evenly remarked with a click of her tongue. She had noticed that Eve's dress was made of expensive fabric, yet the color did her complexion no favor. Instead of enhancing her, it made her stand out in an unflattering way. "That's what one gets when they try far too hard," she said, sipping leisurely from her glass of wine.

"When are you going to meet the king privately, my lady?" Rav asked suddenly, his eyes scanning the crowd with vigilance.