Vista Boulevard

When they approached the carriage that was standing right in the middle of the street blocking the entry to the narrow passage of ink road, they saw vendors murmuring and shouting at the coachman to move the carriage away. People here were obviously not aware of who His Grace was or the night creatures that roamed around with them.

But surprisingly, no one had splashed anything on the carriage or the coachman who wore better clothes than the people who lived here.

Drakos was first to approach the carriage, and the coachman got down on watching his lord approach. Vincent and Drakos obviously wore something made of the highest quality fabric and attire that only noblemen wore. Their coats were long and a top hat rested on both their heads, which was undoubtedly a sign of upper-class people. Everyone from the lower class knew how they and their families could never offend someone of high standing.

Even though night creatures were still a mystery here, it was not hidden from the public how behind the curtains there was the rule of the mafia and all the upper-class people had some or the other connections to the underworld.

The chattering stopped when Drakos flashed a look at his coachman, who was quick to shoo the swarm away.

Everyone watched the two men walking poised to the carriage and with them a girl that they knew. The eyes that Prudence was receiving right now made her want to run away to hide somewhere. People only assumed what Prudence's character reminded them of and that was she must have offended someone of high standing and maybe she will be a subject to the mafia's treatment methods. Little did they know that the one walking beside Prudence was the king of the Mafia himself.

"His Grace," Drakos extended his arm for Vincent to step inside the carriage first.

Vincent lightly jerked his head in the direction of the carriage, asking Drakos to go first, "No need for formalities now, Drakos, go ahead. It's your carriage after all."

Vincent and Drakos shared a bond that accounted for a deep friendship that was only in private. But for the public, Drakos never crossed the line to show casualties with Vincent. Drakos stepped inside the carriage after giving Vincent a bow. Vincent walked ahead, still holding Prudence's hand in his, and he extended his other hand to point at the carriage. "After you, Prudence," Vincent spoke with a Charming smile.

Prudence forced her hand out of his hold, trying not to glare at the man who was taking her with him by pressurising her. "His Grace, I am aware of how to climb inside a carriage."

Her words were in a sneer, but she had kept the tone polite and words as respectful as possible.

Vincent, on the other hand, couldn't help but smirk at the audacity this girl showed to him. If it was someone else, she would have been either fed to the animals in the back of his mansion or her head would be on a scaffold. But Vincent rather was expecting this from her. As long as she was remembering how to be respectful, Vincent was fine with watching her bold side. It was thrilling to watch a woman like her, which was a rare site where he lived.

Vincent was glad that this side of Prudence was still here and did not evaporate into thin air just because he had scared her to her wits.

Inside the carriage, there were two seats that faced each other, and Drakos sat on the left seat and in the middle, so Prudence had no choice but to take the right seat, and she knew Vincent would be sitting next to her. When he climbed after her, that was exactly what he did. Instead of taking a seat beside Drakos, Vincent took a seat beside Prudence. The closed space made Prudence conscious of the fact that she had just returned from the horse farm, and she subtly leaned her head to one side of her shoulder to check whether she smelled bad.

And she wasn't wrong. The stench of the horse farm was still on her. Prudence checked her dress was still muddy and wondered what exactly had Vincent seen in her that he chose to take her with him even after looking at her like this.

The coachman shut the carriage door and, after a moment, the carriage took off. Prudence noticed how the carriage looked rich from inside. It had a velvety texture with a peculiar design running all over on the inside. It was a large carriage as compared to what her friend Abiona used to ride in, which only had a seat on one side.

Prudence saw the trees pass by and few people eyeing the carriage from outside, as they had never seen such sumptuous carriage in this part of the Dewrest.

When their eyes fell on Prudence, as the window were large enough to let her be seen, the people gasped and murmured. Prudence shrugged back, looking the other way where Vincent sat with one of his ankles on the knee of the other leg. He had closed his eyes while his head leisurely leaned back on the carriage walls as if tired. Prudence decided not to look his way and rather looked down. Her head was muddled with thoughts and she was thinking of ways to get away from him.

Prudence remembered Abiona mentioning her in the afternoon to go with her mother to her hometown. Although Elizabeth had mentioned about her hometown to her daughter, she had never taken Prudence there.

The night was dawning near, and it was more than half an hour as the carriage now entered, a different part of the Dewrest. There was a board that went by which read 'Vista Boulevard' that was the name of the town which they had made their way into. Prudence noticed how the carriage had travelled eastward all this time, and Abiona's house was on the west side of Dewrest. This was a place that Prudence had never heard of, and when her eyes trailed outside the site had her gobsmacked.

There were no buildings or houses but individual villas that lined. The shops were neatly arranged on one side in a circle and there were huge public gardens which they went by. It was like the richest of the rich lived in the place.

But that was not what had her shocked. Prudence had observed how there were red eyes that freely lurked around on the streets and in the gardens, along with others who looked human. There were families of vampires and kids who mingled with each other. It contradicted the petrifying image of night creatures that she had in her mind. She noticed some of the people who noticed the carriage and her sitting inside scrunch their faces in distaste towards her inferior appearance.

It was an immediate realisation that dawn onto Prudence on how she would never fit in here.

Her eyes went to Vincent, who was scrutinising her reaction since the time they had entered Vista Boulevard. Prudence held her skirt tightly, trying to strike a conversation that would sway Vincent to send her away. "Is it true Don Sam Murray is looking for me?" Prudence asked gingerly.

Vincent took a deep breath, hearing her question. It was a stupid question for him, "What would you do if you had a big ego and someone threw a glass of wine on your face in a dining party filled with people?" Prudence turned her face away as her lips pursed against each other. She knew the question had an obvious answer, but Vincent didn't have to throw it at her like that. "You will be safe as long as you stay at the manor with me by your side," Vincent continued.

"I could have gone to my mother's hometown," Prudence did not try to go round in a circle this time and said what was on her mind. But her tone was polite and calculated, "You did not have to trouble yourself with providing protection to someone like me."

Vincent smirked at her suggestion and hummed. Prudence wasn't expecting a positive answer, but he could have at least said something.

She was about to say something when Vincent extended his hand to her and she eyed it with doubt as to what she was supposed to do with that. If he was expecting to hold her hand like some young school-going couple? Prudence raised her eyes from Vincent's palm to look into his crimson eyes when he said, "Pass me the bag of water"

Prudence silently released a breath of relief as she rubbed her fingers over her sweaty palms.

She looked to her right where the water bags were stacked and she picked up the first one as quickly as possible, so Vincent did not stay there waiting with his hand stretched out. She handed it to him and while doing so, the back of her fingers mistakenly brushed against his and she retreated her hand to her side quickly at the unexpected touch.

Vincent's lips curled in amusement. How conserved Prudence was, despite the boldness that she carried. "Do you really think I am taking you with me for protection?" Vincent asked, continuing the previous topic.

He uncorked the cap of the water bag while Prudence decided not to disturb him till he drinks his water and later continue the futile effort to persuade him.

"How was your day," Vincent asked casually, and Prudence felt like words were lost from her lips. What was she supposed to answer to that question? She was being forced away from her only family and friend to go live with a man that was known as the king of the underworld. There was nothing good about this, rather everything was scary to her. She did not know how long will she be able to watch her mouth before Vincent gets offended and sucks her dry till she was pale and dead.

Vincent raised his eyebrows at Prudence, waiting for her answer while he also waited to take a sip from the water bag. "G-Good," Prudence stuttered her answer, and Vincent smiled in delight.

The fact was today had not been her day at all. Since the morning she had woken up scared that her mother wasn't home and then she had gone to the horse farm to record her time for the nationals, which did not happen and risked Daisy while teaching a lesson to Norma Weasley. There was a small amount of bliss in that memory where Norma had learnt her lesson to stay away from Daisy, but at that thought, Prudence's worry skyrocketed.

How was Daisy going to do without Prudence there to take care of her? Prudence had to make plans to get away from Vincent as fast as she could.

"Why does your mother call you Pearl?" Vincent went ahead with the conversation without yet drinking the water to bring back Prudence from her thoughts.

The worry lines that were forming on her forehead told him whatever she was thinking was not in his favour and he did not want her pondering on those thoughts.

Prudence gingerly turned to Vincent. She saw him take a sip from the water bag, waiting for her to answer, but it turned out the water bag that Prudence had handed had very little water in it, and Vincent clicked his tongue at the amount of water he got from this already small water bag.

"I don't know," Prudence answered Vincent's question, as if she did not notice that the water bag was almost empty.

Even Prudence wasn't aware of why her mother called her Pearl. It was just something that she had been doing since childhood and Prudence always thought it was how had mother liked to address her. She watched Vincent put the water bag away in a large pocket near his leg by the carriage wall. Prudence continued her answer, "My mother must have an answer to that question. Should we go back and inquire?" Even though she was being cautious, she could not help but grab every small opportunity.

"So eager to turn around already," Vincent remarked, as he narrowed his eyes at Prudence.

She wanted to shout a big yes on his face or just slap him and get out of this carriage, but it was probably something that only happened in the world of her mind. She felt lucky that Vincent couldn't read thoughts, or he might have killed her by now.