The lord has decided to buy them all

"You have good eyes!" The seamstress praised. "Those are actual diamonds which cost ..."

"Stop!" Susan stoped her "Don't tell me." She wasn't a fan of hearing prices or looking at price tags, especially of it had to do with extravagant clothing like the ones she just saw. "It'd be better if you didn't tell me the price. That way, I wouldn't be so self aware while wearing it." She said with a smile. The seamstress agreed and also smiled.

"Wise choice!"

'I feel they're doing everything excessively or... Is this how they usually do things here?' Susan thought, 'I don't know!' she sighed

It was great that her engagement ceremony was planned in a glamorous way, that way, no one could forget it but, she couldn't feel it.

She couldn't feel the excitement like everyone did and she didn't know if it was because she hadn't met the groom yet or because of that strange edgy feeling she was having.

Whatever it was, she needed to set her thoughts straight and concede to the fact that 'this' was her new home.

"Now that it's all settled, I'll get going." The seamstress left with the dress and everything else but just an hour later, she returned with everything she had carried away. "Pardon me, I was just instructed to leave everything except for the dress you will use tomorrow."

"Why?" Susan asked feeling confused.

"Well, that's..."

"The Lord has decided to buy them all." Carlson came in through the door. Susan's mouth almost fell. As if buying her one extravagant dress wasn't enough, he wanted to buy the whole collection?

"Come again?! I don't think I heard you clearly because it sounded like you just stated one of those lines in movies." She refused to believe what she had just heard. She chuckled.

"It's exactly what you heard. The lord has already paid for them and they are at your disposal. If you plan on rejecting them then, you would be rejecting the lord's good will."

Susan placed her hand on her chin and thought for a while. She didn't want to appear rude.

"When you put it that way, it makes it hard to refuse but..." She looked at everything in the room. "...this is too much." she said 'Where in the world am I going to wear these dresses to?' she thought.

"Then, you can carry your response to the lord. I'm sure he'll hear you out." Carlson smiled and Susan froze.

She couldn't just go up to him and reject his gifts, that would make her look proud.

In fact, it was only natural for him to buy her dresses since she would be his wife soon but, why so many at a time and why so expensive? She sighed.

"I can't do that." She said and Carlson nodded.

"Don't worry, the opportunity to use these dresses will arrive faster than you think." he said causing her to feel confused. What did that mean?

She knew if she asked, he would only answer her vaguely, so she decided to keep it to herself.

"I'm going for a walk." she said and walked out of the room. She dialed Katherina's number and she picked immediately.

"Boohoo, I haven't received your call in ages. It feels like you don't want me anymore." Katherina sobbed over the phone.

"I'm sorry, Kathy. I would've called sooner but I was just so busy adjusting." Susan said

"Hmph! Just admit that you love your new home and totally forgot about me." She pumped her cheeks, making her voice sound funny.

"I wouldn't dare!" Susan laughed "By the way, why didn't you call since you missed me so much? "

"Mom said not to disturb you while you adjusted to your new life." Katherina said over pouted lips.

"Wow! I didn't think you were one to listen to Mom." Susan waved at a few maids and walked into the rose garden. The sun was still high up, so she had no problem going there.

"Of course, I didn't. I wanted to make sure that guy wasn't bullying you but, each time I tried to call, it wouldn't go through. It was like, there was some sort of connection block or something." Katherina said. "Anyway, calls and texts couldn't go through so I decided to patiently wait for your call."

Susan did find it strange that she had yet to receive any phone calls since she got to the mansion.

None from her parents, siblings or friends. Even the email she sent, she was suspicious it didn't get through to them.

She decided to ask Katherina about it but before she could ask, a dark cloud covered the sun. She looked up, it wasn't a dark cloud, it was an eclipse.

Suddenly, she started hearing howling from a distance. Did the mansion keep such big dogs or, was it something else?

"Hello, can you hear me?" Katherina, who was still on the phone, couldn't hear a thing from Susan's end. "Darn! The connection's cut off." With that, she cut the call.

Susan was still confused as to why she was hearing such terrifying howls. Those couldn't have been the howls of dogs then ...were there wolves nearby by chance?

One of the servants walked up to her with a glass of water. His face was completely darkened thus, she couldn't see the expression on his face.

"Your water, my lady!" He said but something about him gave her chills.

His voice and attitude were the same but why did it suddenly feel like he was different?

"Thank you!" She reached for the water but her hands trembled. She picked up the glass but couldn't hold on to it.

The glass fell and shattered. It's shards flew about and cut her fairly exposed leg. Blood dripped down the cut.

"I'm sorry, I..." She looked up, only to see the servant with blood red eyes and elongated fangs. His appearance spelt danger.

He looked like he was craving something and licked his lips. It was scary.