Chapter 19: Fortunate mishap

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Eve sat on one of the benches of the garden. Placing her lunch box on her lap, she stretched her legs while admiring the beauty of the mansion's garden. She started to eat, enjoying the gentle breeze that moved in the garden.

Her golden blonde hair swayed in the direction of the wind. The sun's rays had been blocked by the clouds, giving a softness to her features. She looked better than the sculpted statues that were built in the garden. She heard the soft humming of the bees.

Someone, who was walking in the corridors of the mansion, caught sight of the human, who was sitting all by herself in the garden. It was a man with brown hair, and his eyes held a glint of hunger in them. When he saw a maid walking by the corridor, he raised his hand,

"Stop. Who is that woman sitting there?" He demanded from the startled maid.

The maid bowed her head, taking a wary step towards the window, and when her eyes fell on the woman in the garden, she answered, "That's the new governess of Miss Allie."

"Is that so?" Murmured the man, the corner of his lips curling, "What is her name?"

The maid shook her head, "Forgive me, Mr. Charles. I do not know. She h—"

"How useless. Leave," he dismissed the maid before his eyes went back to look at the woman, who sat amidst the flowers. Ready to be plucked and crushed to his satisfaction.

Charles Gallagher was Lady Annalise's younger brother. He had come to visit his sister a month ago, and since then, he had been living in the Moriarty mansion. He walked away from the corridor, heading in the direction to step outside the mansion and into the garden.

Eve continued to eat her food back in the garden when a bee decided to disturb her. The bee repeatedly tried to come in front of her face. She waved her hand that held the fork in it to shoo it away.

But when she raised her fork to take a bite, the bee returned as if wanting to take a bite from her food.

She should have known that there would be bees in the garden. It was only yesterday that she had washed her hair with rose water, which was possibly why the bee was persistent with her. At the same time, unbeknownst to her, a person appeared a few steps behind her.

Charles stared at the young woman's back. When he parted his lips, his fangs appeared, and he couldn't wait anymore to drink her blood. How could one refuse a fresh meal when it was available this readily? He didn't care if it was a governess, as another one could always replace this one.

He took a careful step toward the human.

Eve raised both her hands to shoo the bee. She wondered if she should change the spot where she was sitting. When the bee came near her nose, ready to sting her, her eyes widened. She leaned back to get away from the bee while her hands moved in a way that her lunchbox slipped from her hand, and so did her fork.

And maybe it would have been better if the fork had flown backwards instead of dropping on the ground.

But it was the lunchbox that flew backwards from Eve's hand, smacking right at the man's face, who was ready to jump on her. With a light clatter, the lunchbox fell to the ground.

Noticing the bee that had finally left her, Eve sighed in relief. But her lunch! A soft gasp escaped from her lips when she turned back to see where her lunch box had fallen.

"I—Are you alright?" She inquired the man, who stood with a frozen expression.

The creamy sauce that Eugene had poured over the vegetables now slid down from the man's face. Where did this person even come from?

She pulled out the handkerchief from her dress pocket and offered it to the man, "Please take this—"

The man raised his hand to stop her from talking and Eve cursed her luck.

Charles's eyes narrowed at the new governess. Did she know that he was standing behind her, which was why she decided to throw her food at him?

"Please forgive me. There was this bee that kept coming near my face. And the box just slipped from my hands. I didn't know you were… behind," Eve rambled in explanation because by the looks of the man's clothes, it seemed like he was someone from the same status as the Moriarty's.

Charles glared at her and snarled, "Behind? I was walking by when you purposely threw this disgusting food at me. Do you know how expensive these clothes are? You wouldn't be able to afford it even if you worked here for a year."

Though what happened was unintentional, where it wasn't her fault, it was still her food that had made a mess. Being the humble one, she bowed her head and offered her apologies, "Forgive me, Sir. Allow me to fix this by cleaning your coat as if it were new again."

Charles stared at the human with an apprehensive look on his face. He then huffed, "Are you expecting me to stand like this for the rest of the day? Do it quickly."

Eve offered him a polite smile, as she was unaware of his prior intention and believed her action had caused the mishap. Though his fangs had retracted now, his intention hadn't changed, and it was only a ploy to lead the human to an isolated setting, where no one would be able to hear her struggle.

Inside the mansion, a few servants couldn't help but steal a glance at the pair that walked in the corridor. Though initially, Charles wanted to sink his fangs into the woman's neck; with every passing second, his thirst reduced, and his anger started to seethe.

"I was wondering where the pungent smell was coming from, and was going to ask the servants to throw it out," remarked Vincent, who walked from the other end of the corridor. "Uncle Charles, you stink."

"It is this insolent girl who decided to throw her food at me," Charles spoke through gritted teeth. After the hidden stares from the servants, Vincent's words pushed him further toward the anger that he felt. He glared at the human.

Suddenly feeling humiliated, Charles growled at Eve and took a step towards her, "You shall pay for what you have done."

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