Married To The Mad Vampire Lord-Chapter 140: The guests at the castle

When they arrived at the castle, Belle was stunned at the number of carriages that lined the grounds, with more arriving guests coming in after them. The carriages were double the amount of when they had come for the banquet, and she couldn’t help but worry for Rohan.

But to her relief, he seemed quite all right as they walked down the carriage steps. He readjusted the cotton in both his ears and then held out his elbow for her to hook her arm. Even before they walked into the castle, many eyes were already trailing them, with the guests making way for them as if they recognized who Rohan was.

Some didn’t notice them at first, but the moment they turned, drawn by the sudden hush that fell over the atmosphere, their eyes widened. Gasps echoed softly, and they quickly rushed to the sides, bowing as low as their bodies would allow.

It was as if Rohan’s presence was a deadly plague that would strike them down should they remain in his path—or worse, dare to stand in his breathing space without bowing.

No one even dared to lift their eyes to his face as they passed.

Belle caught sight of many humans among the guests, with servants carrying trunks and bags in. The hallways were all packed with people, many standing by the portraits of the late royals and paying respect toward them.

Rohan, however made no stop nor did he spare any glance to his parents portraits on the wall.

The valet at the doors that led into the main hall took their overcoats after making a hasty bow to Rohan, then stepped back to order a servant to lead them to where the other guests were being held.

All the while they were led in, Belle kept drifting glances at her husband. He was composed, with an air of authority and no signs of the vulnerability he had shown in the carriage. His presence now commanded attention, and everyone bowed and moved aside for them.

She couldn’t help but think that his bad reputation had worked to their advantage. With people fearing him, no one would notice anything wrong with him. Belle sighed in relief and tightened her hand around his elbow, prompting him to turn and look at her briefly.

When they came by the double doors of another hall where chairs were arranged in order and guests were already seated and mingling, there was a loud sound of chatter and laughter—but it all ceased the moment Rohan’s name was announced.

All eyes turned to them, and among those eyes, Belle caught sight of the familiar deep red gaze of Cordelia, who was seated with the royals at the front table, talking and smiling.

Her smile faded for a moment upon seeing Belle.

Belle had even forgotten about the woman and had no idea when she had left the castle. Everything that had happened so far had drawn her full attention away from the fact that the vampiress was supposed to still be in their home. frёeωebɳovel.com

When did she leave? Belle wondered, seeing how those dark red eyes now glared sharp daggers at her—like one would look at their sworn enemy. The intensity of the glare made the hairs on the back of her neck rise.

Belle tore her eyes away from the vampiress; she didn’t like the way Cordelia was looking at her.

She turned her gaze around the hall instead. The chairs were arranged so that the humans sat on the left side and the vampires on the right. At the front of the hall, there was a raised platform with two high-backed chairs meant for the king and queen—but they hadn’t seemed to arrive yet.

The seating arrangements were somewhat concerning to Belle as she noticed that men and women were sitting in different places on both sides.

The servant who had led them into the hall bowed and then, with a trembling voice, spoke, "My lady, y-your seat will be this way, and my lord, yours is there with the princes. His Majesty ordered for families to sit together."

Rohan looked in the direction he was gestured—to where the two princes were seated, with an empty chair between them that was obviously kept for him. He turned his eyes to where Belle was being gestured to. She was to sit on the side of the human ladies.

He realized it was best for her to sit with her kind rather than drag her to the vampire side, where Cordelia and the other vampiresses were seated.

He looked at her and saw in her eyes that she did not want to be separated from him, and Rohan found himself smiling. He also needed her by his side, but the cotton stuffed in his ears was doing wonders. He touched her cheek, then let his hand trail down to her arm before gripping her hand in his and leading her to where she would sit.

As much as Belle did not want to sit away from him, she realized she’d rather sit with the humans than be close to Cordelia, who had not taken her resentful eyes off her since they walked in.

Not just her, but every one of the vampires were looking at her like she was some insect that ought to be stepped on. More of them were purebloods, with thick glasses of blood wine in front of them.

Rohan pulled her chair for her without a care for who was watching him, nor did he pay attention to the silent gasps that came from people when he pulled her chair, seated her, and then leaned down to whisper, "Don’t worry, I will be fine. We can see each other from where we are assigned to sit."

He pulled back after pressing a kiss to her forehead, then made his way to his seat.

He dropped himself casually between the two princes without any formalities or greetings, and the two turned to glare at him as he leaned against the back, crossed his legs, and closed his eyes, ignoring their existence completely.

The audacity of him to sit without greeting them! Though he was older than they both were, they were royals, and everyone was beneath them. However, none of them could say a word to point out his arrogance or reprimand him for his disrespect.

"It’s been a while, cousin," came the smooth, smiling tone of Prince Sebastian, sitting to the right, wine glass in hand as he watched his cousin lounging on his chair like he was at his house.

If Rohan heard him, he gave no sign of it.

"You’re wasting breath, Seb," Prince Harry, the elder vampire prince who had been married for decades now without a child and had been mellow in bitterness about it, scoffed from the other side of the seat, his lip curled in contempt. "Trying to chat with a lunatic as if he remembers who we are. Or do you enjoy talking to walls now?"

Because of the madman’s release, he had begun to be pressured to get his wife pregnant, as if it was that easy for a vampire woman to carry a child. He had no idea why his father had thought to release Rohan from the asylum to marry the human for peace, when they could have forced the human on his brother Seb and then gotten rid of her, and lied to the humans that she was living a better life.

Harry had suggested that but had been met with a scolding, as the human would be sent back to visit her homeland every six months.

To him, he hated the idea that Rohan was out of the madhouse and allowed to roam around when none of them had given birth yet.

Though there had been a signed arrangement for the duke not to get his wife pregnant, Harry still did not like it. The king had said everything would be fine as long as they proved to the guests that he was indeed a lunatic before the end of the hunt. Getting him to sit with them here was a way to provoke him—to push him into showing his madness to everyone.

And if they could get a reaction out of him with their words, so be it!

Prince Sebastian chuckled, swirling his blood glass lazily. "Perhaps I do. At least walls don’t stink of decay like the madhouse he crawled out from. Gods, what did they feed you in there, cousin? Rodents? Rotting carrion? Or were you given a goblet of your own madness to sip every night before bed?"

Rohan’s jaw flexed faintly in irritation, but he remained silent, the corner of his mouth twitching as if amused.

Prince Harry leaned forward as if to whisper words to his brother, who sat on the other side of Rohan. "Our dear mad cousin. What a twisted joke to be related to him. I have always known he was not sane in the head since we were kids and used to visit the castle. Did you know I once found him eating a dead rat in the hallway that led to the kitchen? Che. I was so disgusted when he turned to me with his mouth smeared with blood and that smelly thing."

"Hell!" Prince Sebastian grimaced in disgust. "You never told me about it, brother. That’s nasty."

"I saved you the disgust. Not just the rat—I heard the servants whisper how he ate insects, like he wasn’t fed enough." Prince Harry sighed. "Fortunately, we weren’t in the castle when he snapped at his late mother’s birthday and killed them all."

"Let’s hope he doesn’t snap during this event. You can’t trust a madman when they’re not fully sane before being released," Sebastian mused, raising his glass in mock toast.

Rohan finally blinked his eyes open, slow and unbothered, and turned his head a fraction toward the elder prince. He spoke with a calm, almost sleepy drawl.

"There’s a saying I heard: Only the truly insane find time to mock the silence of others."

He let that settle in the air like ash before adding, voice as smooth as velvet over glass, "Keep talking, cousins. I’m beginning to think I wasn’t the only one they should’ve locked away."

Then, he closed his eyes with a sigh and reclined further into his seat.

"Now be quiet. You’re disturbing my rest."