Lady Samantha Reedsworth was a pale blonde woman with orange-red eyes that carried a cruel glint. She stood tall and proud, carrying herself with the effortless arrogance one would expect from a vampire of her noble stature.
There was something unsettling about the way she looked at people. She wasn’t openly hostile, not enough to be called rude, but there was a quiet disdain in her gaze, the kind that came from someone who had always believed herself to be above everyone else.
Her beauty could be considered flawless. Pale skin, delicate features, perfectly styled blonde hair, and lips curved into a smile that never quite reached her eyes.
She looked exactly like what Darian had expected from a Reedsworth.
Beautiful, untouchable, and probably rotten beneath the surface.
The woman had shown up at his estate uninvited.
Darian had only just returned home when he noticed the unfamiliar carriage waiting outside. He recognized the emblem of House Reedsworth on the carriage door almost immediately, and the sight alone was enough to sour his mood.
He hadn’t expected Samantha to come personally.
Now she stood in his gardens, towering over the half-blind Calypso, who looked completely out of place beside her.
It was certainly not the sight Darian had expected to find when he stepped into the garden.
However the whole scene grated on his nerves.
The Calypso wasn’t supposed to be out.
And the vampire certainly wasn’t supposed to be here.
Darian’s eyes moved toward the group standing not far away, taking in Fiona, Doctor Vale, and Hartley before settling back on Neria. His expression hardened as he walked toward them, his boots pressing against the stone path with each measured step.
"What’s going on here?" His voice carried through the garden.
Neria’s head immediately snapped toward him.
For a moment, she simply stood there, her eyes searching his direction. She squinted slightly, maybe trying to make him out.
But she knew it was him.
Her fingers tightened around the shell necklace at her throat.
Darian noticed. He wasn’t sure why.. maybe she felt nervous?
His gaze shifted toward Hartley. For a second he wondered why he had let the Calypso out of her room.
Then William caught his attention again.
"You were supposed to observe her recovery," Darian said, his voice remaining cold. "Not taking her sightseeing."
William cleared his throat. "Yes, I can explain."
"I’d like you to."
Darian stopped a few feet away, his attention briefly shifting toward Samantha.
The vampiress looked up from Neria, who had taken a small step backward. She stumbled slightly, catching herself before she could fall.
Samantha noticed.
A smirk slowly spread across her lips.
"Still getting used to her legs?" she asked, her gaze dropping briefly toward Neria’s feet. There was something almost clinical about the way she looked at her. "The Calypsos my father uses for game never grew legs."
She chuckled softly.
Darian saw Neria freeze.
He expected her to turn around, perhaps throw one of her usual sharp remarks at the woman. Instead, she quietly moved toward Fiona, one hand stretching out until her fingers found the maid’s arm.
Interesting...
An act?
He couldn’t tell.
Darian’s gaze returned to Samantha, his expression hardening.
"Why are you here?" His tone was unmistakably unkind. Hostility rolling off him like waves.
Samantha’s smirk didn’t falter. "That’s no way to talk to your future wife..."
Hearing those words from her lips made Darian’s jaw tighten with barely contained rage. Even the pleasant smell of roses and lilies around them did little to ease the irritation settling beneath his skin.
"There hasn’t even been an official engagement, yet it seems Lady Reedsworth has already deluded herself."
He saw annoyance briefly mar her face before she quickly smoothed it away. Her fingers curled slightly around the fabric of her dress, the only indication that his words had struck a nerve.
"His Majesty himself said so."
"The Emperor also once said he loved his family, yet here we are."
His words cut her off without hesitation.
The vampire’s expression hardened. She pressed her lips together, and for a brief moment, Darian caught her biting down on her lower lip before she forced her face back into that carefully composed expression.
"House Reedsworth would be the most advantageous alliance for you."
"House Reedsworth bent the knee to my uncle before he even took the throne." Darian’s eyes narrowed as he watched her. "I’m not foolish enough to believe you’re anything more than a thorn my uncle intends to place at my side."
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Samantha’s smile returned, though there was little warmth behind it.
"Your words wound me, Your Grace. I had thought you possessed rather better manners."
Darian’s gaze remained cold. "I have manners. I simply see no reason to waste them."
A quiet laugh escaped her. "Always so charming are we?"
Darian’s eyes never softened. "If the lady has nothing else of importance to say, may I suggest you see yourself out?"
"You dare oust me?"
"Yes," Darian answered flatly.
For a moment, she said nothing. Then she laughed, lifting a hand to her mouth as her shoulders shook with quiet amusement.
Darian merely stared at her.
"This wedding shall happen regardless of the Grand Duke’s wishes, and you know it." Her smile returned, slow and deliberate. "There is little sense in pretending otherwise."
Her eyes shifted toward her side, settling on the butler who stood a few steps away with his hands clasped behind his back. Hartley’s expression remained as stoic as ever, though his attention had clearly remained on their conversation.
"At least have the butler escort me out..."
Darian turned to look over his shoulder. He gave Hartley a small nod.
The old butler immediately stepped forward, his posture as rigid as ever. "My lady?" He gestured toward the garden path leading back toward the estate.
Samantha took a step forward, her expression still perfectly composed as she passed Darian. She had almost reached Hartley when she stopped.
Her head turned slightly toward Darian, and when she spoke again, her voice dropped low enough that only he could hear.
"I shall count this as a humiliation, Grand Duke."
There was no anger in her tone. If anything, she sounded almost amused. But there was something cold beneath the words, something that made Darian’s eyes narrow.
Samantha offered him a small smile before turning away.
Then her gaze caught on something else.
Neria stood a short distance away with Fiona beside her, while Doctor Vale held her spectacles between his fingers, carefully wiping the lenses with a small cloth. The Calypso watched him patiently, her fingers resting against the shell necklace around her throat.
Samantha’s eyes lingered on her.
"A Calypso in spectacles..." she murmured, the faintest hint of amusement touching her lips. "How interesting."