Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 68: Not many distractions

Ada hung on every word out of Arabella’s mouth. That was until the young woman uttered the final line of the poem that had the maid wholly hooked to every rhyme and every rise and fall in tone.

With gleaming eyes, she’d leapt from the seat up onto her feet, clapping like a seal the moment Arabella went quiet.

"That was astounding, Miss!" her joyful beam reached every corner of her visage.

Red in the face, Arabella’s gaze traveled to the floor, "Ah... Thank you, Ada," she too smiled at first, but her expression dimmed a tad after that. Fiddling with her own hands on her lap, Arabella made eye contact with Ada before speaking again, "I truly am sorry for keeping you here. I am sure you have better or more important things to do and because of me, you are stuck with surveillance duty. I’ve caused nothing but trouble since my arrival,"

Eyebrows a bit furrowed, Ada’s lips remained open all the way through Arabella’s speech, twitching at times as though on the verge of allowing words out, but nothing came out. She’d waited impatiently until the end to say her own piece, "No! No! No! Please don’t apologize. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend my days. This is like a paid vacation! Not that we don’t get paid vacations, but who would turn down more of them, am I right?"

All in one breath, it had come out... Leaving Arabella a little too stunned to respond.

"I meant, I would much rather to be keeping you company as I don’t see it as a chore," simmering down, Ada spoke in a much more subdued tone, glancing at her own hands which she, sort of, rubbed together.

Those words brought some relief to Arabella who took a deeper breath. Thinking about Ada’s company, it had dawned on her that, truly, nothing matched the ease the maid’s face as well as voice proffered.

Not that she’d despised the vampires’ company, however, in their presence, there always seemed to be that extra weight weighing her down, auxiliary consideration or thoughts to keep in mind. Especially when looking into Silas’ or Lady Persephone’s eyes.

"Will you be on duty at the ball?" she asked. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

"Oh yes, but only in the kitchens," Ada shook her head no, "Only vampire servants are allowed inside the ballroom," she elaborated.

"Is it... Unsafe?"

The fright in Arabella’s eyes prompted Ada to soothe her, "No, no! It is not a safety issue. No one would dare put their hands on any employee under the protection of the Eleazars. It is merely a rule that we have always followed," she pushed an awkward smile as she continued to slowly shake her head.

Shoulders slumping further, it appeared her words weren’t of much comfort to the young woman.

"But you will do fine! The Lady has even had a dress custom tailored for you to wear on the occasion! She is well aware that your place is among high society and...,"

By the time Ada had noticed the tragic frown on Arabella, she caught on to the fault in her statement. The young woman had her eyes on the closet, right on the side where Mr Kallum’s dress hung once upon a time.

Heart pressing against her throat the more images of that shredded gem flashed back in her mind.

A magnificent gift it was indeed, and then it was no more, due to her own negligence, Arabella believed.

At that sight, Ada scrambled to find better comforting thoughts to cling to and distract Arabella with. The only idea that had zoomed across her mind in the moment was the garden.

"It is such a beautiful day today, don’t you think? We ought to visit the gardens, miss!" the maid declared, rushing towards the window.

"Oh... I don’t know about that, I must...," Arabella’s eyes traveled towards the table where the anthology lay.

"Worry not, miss! The Lady has explicitly told me that we did not have to stay in the room, said to make sure you got some fresh air too," Ada smiled.

Ada encountered a little more reluctance from the young woman, but eventually she relented.

The clear image of Edgar’s smile popping in her head worked as a force to sway her decisions. It had been a while since she’d last seen him.

However, and only a few steps out of the room, something came that foiled Ada’s plan to raise Arabella’s morale once more. It seemed the universe was hellbent on keeping her miserable.

In the distance, Edna walked with a group of maids. They were not heading their way, but her figure was enough to taint the already feeble smile on Arabella.

She halted in place, body stiffening completely. Her mind blocked the rest of the world around her, leaving but Edna’s eternal and malice laced grin in view.

The rotten words she’d vomited about her in her own face blared in a never-ending cycle through her head. Quite painful to hear as well, even within the bounds of her own skull.

"She won’t come this way!"

After a number of failed attempts at getting Arabella’s attention, Ada fully stepped in front of her, hoping to act as an effective barrier.

"What do you mean?" Arabella muttered, finally focusing on Ada.

"It seems the Master has had a talk with Edna and strongly suggested... That she’d stay away from you," Ada’s eyes trailed away around the end of her sentence.

"Strongly suggested?! You mean, ordered!" Arabella had half asked.

"Well...," Ada took a few seconds to contemplate her response, "Let’s say that part of my job is to make sure Edna stays true to her word and does not try to interact with you in any way, shape or form,"

"But how...? Who...? I never...,"

The horror in her eyes could not have translated her thoughts and feelings any better. Rooted in her spot, irises stuck onto Edna’s figure.