Married To The Mad Vampire Lord novel Chapter 279

Chapter 279: "I can pretend."

In Nightbrook, where the gloomy midmorning sky flashed with lightning and distant thunder echoed through the air, a soft drizzle fell from the heavens. The flashes of lightning briefly illuminated the large, ancient castle that had once stood as a symbol of royal grandeur.

Inside the castle, recently reopened after being surrounded by vampires for months, Rav moved through the freshly cleaned corridors, holding a lamp high in his hand. Despite it being morning, the interior remained dim and shadowed due to the stormy weather outside. He made his way up the stairs toward one of the many chambers at the top and came to a stop before a closed door.

He didn’t immediately knock. Instead, he stood staring at the door, hesitating, because he hated every moment he was forced to talk to the person behind it. With a sigh, he finally raised his hand and tapped his finger twice against the wood.

From the other side came the sound of movement, soft shuffling and cautious footsteps against the floor, before a lock clicked, and the knob turned. The door pulled back slightly, and a fiery red-haired woman peeked out, her narrowed light-red eyes landing on him. When she saw it was him, she opened the door wider, then pursed her lips as she regarded him with open displeasure.

"How may I help you?" Asked Evenly, one brow arched. She already knew the vampire only came knocking when he had instructions to bark at her like he owned her. And because she was living under the same roof as him, she had no choice but to force herself to listen, and obey.

She had learned the hard way never to bite the hand that fed you, no matter how badly you wanted to bite their head off instead. So, she waited patiently for him to state his reason for coming again.

Rav regarded the woman before him with a resigned expression. He saw the impatience in her eyes, the clear disgust at having to deal with him, and he understood it completely. She wasn’t the only one who preferred they stayed far apart. He felt the same, especially considering how badly things had begun between them, and the unfortunate circumstances that had now forced them to share the same roof.

His master had insisted on keeping her around, to please his wife after the disagreement they’d had because of this woman. Though his master had never admitted it was for his wife’s sake, Rav knew it had to be. Otherwise, this woman would’ve been thrown out long ago.

Rav was merely a man who followed his master’s orders. If the orders given to him displeased the woman standing before him and made her loathe him, he didn’t care. He had never cared what anyone thought of him.

"Have you folded the sheets I sent to your chamber last night?" he asked, his tone indifferent.

The woman blinked, her lips parting faintly in surprise before she masked it with her own indifference.

"No," Evenly said calmly. He had sent Gwen last night to bring a pile of freshly washed bedsheets to her chamber to iron and fold. And as much as she had been following his orders, clearing her own plate of food, washing her own clothes, since there were no assigned maids in the castle until Rohan returned to assign them, she hadn’t folded the sheets.

"And why is that?" Rav asked, his expression strict. "We’ve shared the chores in the house, and yours was to fold the sheets. This house will not clean itself without servants."

"I’m not a maid," she snapped quietly, her patience thinning. Not even in her father’s house had she ever folded or ironed a sheet. She had always had maids at her beck and call. And if it hadn’t been for him turning her into this creature, she would still be welcome in her father’s house.

"No," Rav agreed coolly, "you’re a guest. One who has eaten our food, slept under our roof, and stayed alive only because my master allowed it. So—" he looked into her defiant red eyes, "—you’ll act like one until the house has servants to work."

After they had fled Nightbrook, every servant in the house had been sent back to the slave establishment, and no one had been left behind. Coming back to it, everything had been covered in dust, and Rav and Gwen had done most of the work, only giving this woman the least of the chores.

"If you want to keep staying here, I’ll advise you to make yourself useful in some way," Rav said calmly.

Her jaw clenched, but she didn’t say anything. What could she possibly say? Defy him and end up outside without a roof? No, thank you, Evenly thought. Glaring at him, she turned to go back into her chamber to start the work, but the vampire stopped her.

"That’s not all. There’s more."

Gritting her teeth and taking a deep breath, Evenly turned back to face him with a forced smile. "And what is it I have to do again, my lord?" she said sarcastically.

Rav ignored her sarcasm and spoke. "About what we talked about a few days ago," he began. And seeing her frown, he continued, "About you posing as a mother to Her Ladyship’s baby."

A look of delight settled on her pale, beautiful face as she nodded, her red eyes unable to hide the sudden excitement that shone in them. "Yes, how about it?" Evenly asked eagerly, stepping out of the doorway to stand in front of him, her excitement at the thought of being a mother impossible to hide.

Despite it being only pretend, she couldn’t help the way it warmed her. And despite her dislike for this vampire, those words alone were enough to lighten the mood he had ruined with his appearance at her door.

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