Married To The Mad Vampire Lord-Chapter 96: Awake

Belle gasped awake on the bed.

Her hazel eyes welled up with tears of relief the moment they fell on the familiar face of her husband, who sat on the edge of the bed, staring at her with his usual blank eyes that, for the first time, held a faint, obvious worry in them.

Her throat and lips felt so dry when she attempted to speak his name. Thrust in such a situation she had never been in before, having thought she had died and was stuck in that dreadful world only to wake up in one much better than it, with the face of a man she had thought she wouldn’t see again, was too much for her divesting and wretched heart to bear.

She was still trembling from the aftermath of it, and staring at Rohan through blurred vision where he looked back at her, she did not think about her next action — she acted on it. She moved closer and wrapped her arms around his midsection, hugging him with all the relief in her heart, her head rested against his wide chest that offered her just the amount of comfort she sought at that moment.

"Oh Lord... I thought I was dead..." she cried out shakily, unable to believe everything that had happened, as it seemed like a dream and yet an unfortunate reality at the same time. Her voice was parched, but she did not care and held on to her husband like a lifeline.

Horror — she’d just experienced it more than she ever had. A shuddering wave of it went through her as she recalled all those dead souls that were after her, especially the raw burnt flesh of a person she’d thought was a friend but was a backstabbing snake. She could not imagine being stuck there.

Perhaps it was because she had not cried the night before and had been numb, but right at a moment where she had been close to death herself, the dam and the brick blocking her emotions scrambled away, and she began to sob softly in his arms, soaking the front of his shirt with her uncontrollable tears.

Belle did not even realize how much time had passed as she cried in his arms, where he held her silently without uttering a single word. She felt so exhausted that she was reduced to a hiccupping mess in his embrace, half pulled onto his lap and the bed, one of his arms wrapped around her middle and the other pressing the back of her head to his chest, stroking her nape gently with his thumb.

She laid her head there for a few more minutes, so glad to be alive and to see him again, breathing in his scent, trying to convince herself it was a terrible nightmare that had merely felt real, until her nerves began to settle enough that other sensations that had seemed momentarily lost began to restore themselves. That was when she felt the pain in her wrist and the tingling, pinching aches in her ankle and feet.

She pulled her arm from around him, looked down at her wrist and saw the brown handkerchief that belonged to Rohan tied around it. She had cut herself when Kuhn...

She quickly pushed back from his chest and looked around the chamber with panicked eyes, where she blatantly saw Rav standing at the foot of the bed and Gwen holding a bowl of water at the side, all of them staring fixedly at her. She blushed in embarrassment at the fact that she had just cried in her husband’s arms in their presence, but there was no time to dwell on that embarrassment as she kept looking around.

Where is he? Oh, God, was he unable to make it back like she had? Belle thought in worry as she tried to look for the cloaked figure who had helped her.

She had seen him a few times in her chamber before but had always pretended she did not see him, convincing herself she was only imagining things when he disappeared after she blinked—or when she asked if the deceased girl saw him. And now, she desperately tried to find any sign of him.

As if knowing who she searched for with her eyes, she heard Rohan’s deep, resounding voice whisper next to her ear, "Kuhn is right next to the door of your closet if you’re looking for him."

Belle jolted at his sudden words and turned in the direction he spoke of, seeing that Kuhn was indeed standing there, trying to blend in with the door, which was black just like his cloak.

She was about to sigh somewhat in relief when she realized Rohan had used the same name the reaper had used to address the cloaked figure—and that he could also see him, just like she could, unlike the servants who had failed to see him. She turned to her husband with widened eyes.

"You...you can see him, too?" she asked in a whisper, but Rohan only nodded his head and then said, "Let me see your feet. I can smell your blood. We will talk when you are in a better condition."

He pulled the sheets away from her lower body to expose her mud-covered, bruised feet and ankles, making even her gasp at the sight that had now dirtied the clean sheet. The hem of her light-colored nightdress was covered with thick mud, just like her feet and toes.

If she wasn’t yet convinced of what had happened to be real by seeing Kuhn, her dirty feet and stained nightdress were enough to convince her of the unfortunate adventure she had just had.

It was terrifying enough to be able to travel in her sleep, and even more so for others to see and watch as she woke up with dirt and mud on her body. She wondered what they would think of her, but she couldn’t even worry about that as Rohan sent the two in the room to fetch the things they would need to treat her injuries, clean her up, and bring her a glass of water.

When they were left alone in the chamber, Belle couldn’t quite bring herself to meet Rohan’s gaze, fearing he might see her in a bad light now.

No normal person would travel to the land of the dead while alive, and she feared that, just like her parents had claimed years ago when they rejected her for wandering a vast forest for days without an adult or food, Rohan would do the same.

If anyone in Aragonia got wind of this and learned about her experience, she would be hanged before the light of the next day, labeled a witch or even a demon. Worse still, her parents might confirm their suspicions that she wasn’t truly their daughter and hand her over for execution.

She wouldn’t blame him if he sent her away and distanced himself from her. She was starting to doubt herself, too — wondering if she was indeed her parents’ daughter. How could she have traveled to another realm in her sleep? Could it be that she was the freak living among the living, and that she had indeed been beheaded by that vampire years ago, just as her mother had said?

Belle could feel his eyes on the top of her head as he stared at her, and she made no attempt to look up at him as she feared the disgust and disdain she might see. Not that he was any different from her, as he was also considered different from his kind, but she did not think she could stomach his resentment like she had her family.

She held her breath and bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling when she felt him move away, as though he was about to leave the bed. She was almost certain he would, but instead, he bent down. To her surprise, he was simply removing his boot. Then, she felt the space beside her dip as his weight settled on the mattress, making his way toward the foot of the bed where her legs were stretched out.

She hesitantly raised her head to find him holding a wet cloth in his hand. Gently, he took her ankle and placed her bruised foot on his bent thigh, carefully wiping away the dirt to reveal the red, slightly swollen mark around her delicate ankle where the bony creature had gripped. She jolted at the sharp pain and reflexively tried to pull her leg back, but he held it firmly in place, his voice calm as he warned,

"Stay still. I’m trying to be gentle, don’t make me hurt you."

His voice, steady and deep, made her muscles relax before she even had the chance to will them to. She bit down on her lower lip and folded her hands in her lap, watching him clean her leg. It was something he wasn’t supposed to do—this task was for the servant—but the simple act brought an overwhelming warmth to her heart.

"How did you get hurt?" came his nonchalant question.

Rohan was reining in his rage and anger, not on his wife of course but on the fact that she could travel beyond the realm he couldn’t reach, and if she ever were to get in trouble and get hurt by anyone there, he wouldn’t be able to get there and save or kill any bastard who laid their hands on his woman.

He had not been able to do anything when he saw how much she was struggling to wake up earlier but only watch and hope Kuhn was there with her.

Now, seeing the bruises on her feet and body, not to mention the bleeding in her wrist he had tried to stop, as the scent of her blood had almost caused a frenzy in the chamber.

He had held his own breath as he stopped the bleeding with his handkerchief and also saw how Rav pinched his nose together while Gwen had also ceased breathing because it had whiffed strongly in the chamber, tempting them to take a bite.

It was a vampire trait that couldn’t be helped, not to mention the scent of blood from someone in distress was more alluring than that of someone calm. She had been in distress enough that her blood scent had been strongly tempting.

He had never held himself back from drinking from someone tempting like he had with his wife, which was why he had been slow to react when she first woke up, as he was still struggling. Now that his mind was calming enough for him to register things without his thirst getting in the way, he waited for her to answer.