Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 123: Around one table

The silver spear cast at the heart of the Dragomirs’ main gates split down the center, allowing Edna to go forward.

"Welcome to the Dragomirs’," Lauden stood tall and greeted her as soon as she’d crossed the threshold, "We are glad you were able to make it," he bowed slightly.

Edna did not seem the least bit impressed and offered him her signature scowl, "Right, let us get this over with,"

"Were you followed?" he asked after ushering her in front of himself.

"At first, yes," Edna started, thinking back at the figure that had stalked her though KasselMoon, "But I made sure to lose them before heading here. I am already on thin ice as it is,"

"After the little stunt you pulled, how could you not be?" Lauden let out a calculated chuckle.

At those words, Edna stopped in her tracks and straightened up, "If you have another pair of ears back at the Eleazars’, then you do not need my help. So, why am I truly here?"

"Come now, it is not like that at all," he wanted his smile comforting, but his features failed miserably at delivering it, "They can’t do what we need you to do," the vampire put emphasis on the word "you".

It took her a moment to relent and follow Lauden’s extended arm.

Once inside, Edna thought the decor had nothing to envy the Eleazars’. Indeed, with the exception of the metal of choice that adorned almost every surface, nothing else stood out as unique.

It was almost as though both properties were designed by the same person. They weren’t necessarily identical, but had it not been for Lady Persephone’s obsession with silver, Edna would’ve believed she walked the same halls as every other day.

No other vampire dared garnish their home with silver. Persephone sure was a breed in her own lane.

The young woman wondered whether Silas went with it to humor his mother or if he genuinely enjoyed it.

Although there was no debating it. Silver did suit him very well.

Lauden led her to a sizable, lavishly furnished room where two men, facing each other, were already seated.

The first, the one that had the familiar visage of Lord Dragomir, but the second was exactly who Edna thought he’d be.

The moment she’d walked around the designated empty chair to both their sides; his gemstone green eyes provoked an inner revolution within her as all of her organs churned uncontrollably.

Reubon stared the young woman up and down, a firm demeanor on him before turning back to Dragomir.

"A maid?" he practically scoffed.

The response came not from his business partner, but from the young maid instead, "Not all women are born lucky like your daughter," she hissed, pressing on every word.

"That tongue on you is quite sharp. Know your place, little girl," though steady, a hint of strain in his voice was distinguishable to the fine ear.

"I know mine, but I am not sure you know yours around here, Lord!" Edna spat the sentence with an even heavier tongue.

"How dare you?" Reubon grunted, clenching his fists until his knuckles turned completely white, "A mere peasant such as you shouldn’t even raise her gaze before me!"

"Then I suppose you can do just fine without my help here!" she crossed her arms over chest, "You weren’t even able to reel your daughter in when you had her right in front of you so, I am confident, whatever silly little idea trots through your mind, it’ll fail in any case,"

Lightning struck between them, splitting their world into two halves as one could slice through the tension in the room with a blade.

Edna had her back already halfway turned to them, gaging the door and getting ready to leave.

However, and fortunately for everyone, the meeting was not allowed to go south before it even started.

The laughter that echoed after Reubon’s words mended the cracks threatening to shatter their plans.

Lord Dragomir’s voice blared, filling every corner of the space surrounding them, "Now, now, girl! Of course we do need you. In fact, your contribution is the most important out of all of ous,"

Reubon shot a scathing glare at Dragomir. Had he been a mere mortal, it’d have set him ablaze.

The two men exchanged a few more looks before Reubon’s demeanor shifted, softening a tad. Though he still refused to meet Edna’s gaze.

"Well, I expect to be treated as such then," she huffed, finally plopping down on the sofa beneath her.

"But of course, my dear," Dragomir spared yet another controlled laugh, "Now do tell me; I hear you have a complicated relationship with a certain young woman,"

"To call it a relationship is quite the overstatement, but never the matter. It is not my fault. I stood in nobody’s way, it was her that came and took what belonged to me in the first place," she grunted, her features never relaxing once throughout her utterances, "Then again," she glanced in Reubon’s direction, "I am not surprised. Respect is a virtue human nobility grows up believing they alone must be entitled to and not earned," the maid Smirked.

Sensing the brewing steam arise through Reubon, Dragomir sought to quickly shift the attention in the room, "Well, that is not our concern today, but I believe our interests align in... Many ways," he gave his best attempt at a smile.

Edna still had her arms folded across her chest, but in that moment, she untwined them to express her mind, "I honestly don’t understand what’s holding you back. With all of your resources, you can easily have her eliminated without ever needing to lift a finger,"

"No!" it was Reubon’s first word since the silent agreement that seemed to have taken place between him and Dragomir.

"Worried, aren’t we?" Edna chuckled, "Fret not, daddy’s little girl does not have to suffer. I despise her, sure, but I am still human. I am not sadistic," she averted her eyes away from him.

Before Reubon could retort, Dragomir intervened yet again to mitigate and make sure the conversation remained on the right track, "The problem lies there, precisely. We do not want her dead. On the contrary, we need her alive,"