Married To The Mad Vampire Lord-Chapter 102: The boutique_Part 2

The boutique was a three-story building with a white exterior, and Belle took note of everything as she looked around. When she pushed the door open, the clear sound of a bell rang out, and the soft sounds of voices and laughter from the patrons flowed out. Inside, it was as grand as she had expected, with a carved staircase that led to more shops within the building.

At one side, there was a desk, and a male clerk sat there, writing down records with his spectacles sitting low on the bridge of his nose. He looked up at the sound of the bell, and the moment he recognized who had come in, he quickly stood to his feet and bowed as low as his body could allow.

"Good afternoon, My Lady!" he greeted the pure-blood vampire. He was a turned vampire and had worked here for years. In those years, he had learned exactly who Cordelia Garth was and how twisted the woman could be in the head when she wasn’t respected by those lower than her in status. He could still remember how he’d almost lost his job once for sleeping when she came in, and he had failed to greet her.

Beside the clerk’s desk, four women stood, one vampire and three humans.

The beautiful vampire woman with chestnut-brown hair, who had been instructing the human attendants, stopped at the clerk’s greeting and turned toward the new arrivals.

Upon noticing Cordelia, her light red eyes brightened, and she beamed, making her way over with the three human attendants following closely behind.

"Lady Cordelia, what a pleasant surprise to have you in our boutique!" greeted the Madam of the boutique with a graceful bow of her head.

Just like the clerk, she was a normal vampire, and it was only natural for her to show respect to a pureblood—especially one close to the royals. She could not afford to offend the lady, no matter what the rumors were saying about Cordelia’s family struggling to repay their debts.

"Madame Elizabeth, I’ve been so busy, I’ve barely had time to visit your boutique," Cordelia replied in a pleasant tone, her chin lifted proudly at the respect she was given. "But I plan to shop for many things today as usual."

She was pleased that she had not lost her respect among the humans and the owners of White Valley’s elite boutiques. Her own friends had begun to look down their noses at her for the state her family was in. And though they had not insulted her to her face, she had no doubt they mocked her behind her back for the lack of possessions she now had—all thanks to her damned father, who was hellbent on selling many of their belongings to pay off his debts. He had even dared to sell her jewelry without informing her.

She had not come here just to shop for weapons or attires for the hunt—this was about restoring her pride. She wanted to feel important again. And now that the cost would be charged to her cousin—who had foolishly told the stupid human that everything they bought would be on his name—she planned to buy as many dresses and pieces of jewelry as she could, and also put the useless human right where she belonged.

"How can we be of assistance to you, my lady?" asked the three human assistants standing behind Madame Elizabeth, their heads bowed low. They usually attended to customers, but because Cordelia was a pureblood, the madame herself had come forward to greet her personally.

"Your madame and I will be catching up on things," Cordelia said with a glare to the workers. "While she helps me look through the best dresses and jewelry you have, one of you should escort my servants to the weapon section and training gear, so they can pick out the finest crossbows in your collection. And I would like a cup of blood tea waiting in the refreshments room by the time I’m done. Be sure it’s my usual blend."

She exchanged a look with one of the workers, who nodded at her instructions. Cordelia was a familiar face in this boutique, which sold almost everything one might need under one roof.

She walked further into the building without waiting for Belle, and Belle—who had stood back and watched as the vampiress commanded attention around the boutique like she owned it—was about to follow her when she was blocked by the human assistants who wore the same blue-striped dress that seemed like a uniform.

One of them had escorted Rav and Gwen into the weapon section where Cordelia had told them to pick the finest bow for both of them.

Rav had left knowing the lady would be fine and treated well in the boutique, and no harm could come to her, but he had underestimated the cunning vampiress who had set a trap without even lifting a hand.

Belle craned her neck to see that Cordelia had disappeared from sight with Madame Elizabeth, leaving her behind as the assistants blocked her from crossing the clerk desk side.

"You have nerves to wear your shoes into the boutique for a slave," scoffed one of the human girls who had blocked her from making it past where she stood. The girl glared hatefully and disgustingly at Belle, who wore a yellow simple dress and who she believed to be a slave of the pure blood vampiress. Since when had these lowly slaves started to get good attires when they come from dirt? freewebnσvel.cѳm

"Take the shoes off and go sit there. We will bring the cup to get your blood for your mistress’s blood tea," ordered the girl as she pointed toward a section in the boutique that looked shabby, where two other slave humans were sitting obediently on the floor, waiting for their mistress to finish shopping, both of them in shabby attires.

It was one of the rules of the boutique that no slave could walk in with their shoes, and knowing how someone like Lady Cordelia never failed to change her slave every week she came here, they naturally assumed Belle was the new slave in better clothing.

Lady Cordelia would never be caught going shopping with a human if she wasn’t her slave, and like usual, they had the open opportunity to feel superior to another person who was lower than them.

A slave was considered the lowest of the low in Nightbrook, and being humans with working jobs and having a house, they made sure to put every slave in their place, just like the vampires tried to put them down. The slaves were an easy outlet for them—someone they could belittle to feel better about their own position.

Belle, taken aback by their words, looked from where they told her to go and then back to where Cordelia had disappeared behind the walls of the boutique. Were they blind not to see that she wasn’t a slave?

"I am sorry, you must be surely mistaken, but I am—"

Slap!!

"How dare you open your mouth to talk back to us? Just because you get lucky enough to wear a fine dress out of Lady Cordelia’s kindness gives you no right to dare speak back at us!" snorted the other girl, who was a brunette and had slapped Belle before she could correct them of their mistake.

Eyes turned in the direction of the commotion the attendants were creating, but everyone looked away like they saw nothing—including the clerk, who was used to this kind of display between the humans and the slaves.

Belle tasted blood on her tongue from the heated slap that caught her off guard, her head still turned to the side, disbelief in her widened hazel eyes. She could not believe how one human could treat another so poorly. Wiping the blood from the side of her lip, she looked toward the girl who had slapped her.

"Seeing that you have mistaken me for what I am not, I will let that slap slide if you apologize," Belle said calmly as she looked at the resentful eyes of the girl who had hit her. She did not want to cause trouble for anyone, and certainly not when they had made the mistake of her identity because of the simple dress she had made the mistake of wearing today.

She hadn’t bothered to dress extravagantly, as Farrah usually insisted she do each day with makeup and elaborate gowns. Instead, she had chosen the simplest dress among the many she owned and left her face bare and natural. Compared to Cordelia, who had overdressed herself as though attending a ball, it was no surprise the assistants mistake Belle for her slave.

Though Belle felt disgusted that they would treat another person this badly just for being a slave, when they didn’t seem any better, she wanted to shop for what had brought them here and leave. But it seemed the two girls wouldn’t let it slide like she was willing to. They both laughed and then clapped each other’s hands.

And before Belle knew it, the other girl had raised her hand and slapped her on the other cheek.