Doubts and Misunderstandings

FLEEING from the slave house, the scenery that laid upon their eyes was a total nightmare. It was horrific and ominous! Blood and corpses were lying almost everywhere. It was like they were in the middle of a combat zone. At least for Yuki, it was unbelievable. The color drained from her face when she saw them. The sight was not an everyday scene for Yuki. Definitely. Yet Damien and Grace seemed fine. Grace just walked over and stepped on the corpses like it was the most natural thing to do. Like it was a carpet made of dead bodies.

'Well, at least that has explained the blood on his clothes,' thought Yuki, while being carried on Damien's shoulder like a potato bag. They even put a robe over Yuki to 'protect' her from the sun. Seriously?

She wanted to scream and say that she was not a vampire, but Grace signed 'don't' with her face. Luckily, the robe helped in making her body warm in this cold weather.

Yuki could see nothing except the corpses. But she could hear some bold voices of men chattering from afar.

"Too bad we cannot interrogate them. So we can't find out who was the actual mastermind of Lady Grace's abduction." A knight voiced out his opinion while poking one of the dead bodies. Dead men tell no tale, anyway.

"It was the Duchess, of course. Her wicked schemes know no limits! Who can tell what will she do afterward?" said another knight.

"Maybe she will stab your heart and cut your tongue for talking behind her back, Luke." The first knight made a jest.

"Oh! Shut up, Ryan!" The knight named Luke wore a worried expression. Just imagining the face of the Duchess made him shiver in horror. He would prefer being in the war than facing the mad Duchess.

As their masters walking near, the two knights finally shut their mouths and bowed their heads as a signal of reverence.

"How about the carriage?" questioned Damien.

Ryan answered. "In preparation, milord. Maybe my Lord and milady can ride it when we cross over the Lancaster Town."

"That would be tough," Damien sighed. "By the way, we have a bothersome 'luggage' to carry around." He tilted his head to his shoulder.

'Excuse me?' Yuki was speechless. Did he mean her? He called her 'luggage'. Was she that heavy?!

Yuki wanted to be mad. She deserved to be angry at that rude statement! However, as her eyes witnessed the corpses directly with blood oozing out from their bodies, Yuki gave up. She could not stand it anymore. She almost threw up. Burp!

"What is wrong with this vampire? First time seeing body fluid?" Damien mocked.

As a matter of fact, YES! It was her very first time seeing a creature with overflowing blood. So much like a river flowing to the sea. It was a massacre!

"Grace will ride with me, and this vampire would ride with you, Luke," demanded Damien.

"Alright, my lord." Luke heeded the order without further questions.

Luke had no problems riding the horse with a vampire. He had worst before. He even used to ride with foul-smelling corpses for hours because his master commanded him.

Before starting the journey after leaving the slave house, Damien had a moment to tell Ryan to do some background check on the vampire. He also asked Ryan to search for any information about a missing vampire in the Southern Republic. And report to him as fast as he could.

There would be no way Damien would let a vampire living with them in the estate for a long time! He did not care if Grace hates the idea. Because Damien did it for her safety in the future. This vampire might eventually become a thorn in their side!

Oh! Damien kept his promise. He burned down the slave house with his dark magic after leaving it. When they were riding over the cliff, they could see the slave house was burning into ashes from a distance and disappeared into the air like fireworks.

It was entertaining!

And their excursion back to the Gregory Estate began.

___

THE journey was a long one. When they finally reached Lancaster Town after hours, they took a brief stop. Damien, Grace, and Yuki dismounted from the horses and rode the special carriage prepared for them.

Yuki was astonished. It was a private carriage adorned with an assortment of golds and diamonds. Wow! Yuki thought the carriage must cost a fortune. And it was in raven color. Yuki thought it was their family's signature color. Only exclusive for this Gregory Family. However, the crest on the carriage was a black panther with blue eyes. It was a beautiful emblem!

After a quick rest, they continued the journey while being escorted by Luke and Ryan back to the Gregory Family Estate.

The long trip could be exhausting, especially for a child. Thus, Grace fell into sleep while napping on the lap of that lady. Huh! Damien scoffed in disbelief. How could Grace choose that stranger woman known as Yuki to sleep on than his brother? Grace was perfectly attached to that woman like glue!

Along the journey, Damien could not take his eyes off Yuki and kept staring at her. He crossed his hands in frustration. Yet, it was more uncomfortable and suffocating to Yuki, so she avoided the glares several times. She made sure that her eyes would not meet his, so she kept looking out of the window.

After a moment of silence, Damien took that chance to speak to Yuki.

"If you are one of Bridget's gofers, I won't hesitate to kill you. Even though Grace adores you so much." Damien threatened with a meaningful smile.

"I'll keep that in mind," answered Yuki fast. Her voice trembled as he threatened. But she had zero ideas about the woman named Bridget. None! It was her first time hearing that name. She vowed in her heart.

Yuki and Damien had a lot of misunderstandings and miscommunications. And it was hard to fix their awkward situation.

"You know Bridget?" Damien asked.

"Nope, sir!"

Damien smirked. 'You don't know, huh? We will see later!'