Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 37: Velvet Beans

Chapter 37: Velvet Beans

Samantha couldn’t remember exactly how she fell asleep last night, but when her eyes fluttered open, it was already morning. The air outside felt crisp and cold, which was normal for the civilians of EmptyHollow as they shared half of the borders with the North. Sitting up on the bed while rubbing both her arms to keep herself warm, Samantha’s gaze wandered to Ivan’s bed, and the Vampire Lord who she normally found sitting on his bed every morning, was absent today.

"He’s not here." Samantha did not wish to concern herself about the disappearance of someone who tortured her all through the night, but his behavior last night had been quite strange to her. He seemed more upset with her than he usually does on a normal day, and then he just left the room without saying anything else. Even now, he still hasn’t returned from wherever he went to, and she was starting to wonder if there was a problem she was unaware about.

Again, why is she stressing herself??

A knock on the door broke the nonplussed Samantha from her train of thoughts, and when she responded by asking who it was, Lucy stepped into the room, but she was putting on that mischievous smile that made her look no different from a hatching sly fox.

"Lucy?" The surprise in her tone and the way her eyes went round was enough proof that Lucy’s presence had left her startled. "Why are you here?"

"Can you come outside first? I’m not allowed to be here." Lucy whispered, checking behind her to make sure Lord Ivan wasn’t anywhere in sight. Samantha, whose interest had been called forth, quickly got out of bed and went to join Lucy. They both stepped out of the room and took a walk in the corridor.

"Can you speak? I’m also not allowed to go too far. What if he returns?"

"Shhh, be calm." Lucy quickly looked around to make sure they were both alone before bringing out a small white sack with five velvet beans packaged inside. The sight of it made Samantha’s eyes widen in awe, and then she also looked around to make sure no one was coming before whispering.

"Where did you get it?"

"I went to the market to get some supplies for the soiree event, so I got this too!" She brought it up to Samantha’s face, and this time, it was Samantha’s eyes that danced with a mischievous intent. There was a reason why the velvet beans were nicknamed ’the devil beans’ and it was just what she needed to accomplish her plan. She wanted to take it, but Lucy retreated her hand back and as a good friend, she asked.

"Are you sure you want to do this? You could get into a lot of trouble if anyone finds out!"

"Of course I want to do this." Samantha folded her arms, hardly feeling undeterred. "It’s not a good thing to pick on village girls who have good experiences with bullies, and I need to teach that princess some manners. I was unable to walk for two whole days, even My Master didn’t punish me severely for escaping!" She whispered back, remembering the ill-treatment Princess Claire made her receive in the punishment room, and it was only right for her to get even.

"Are you really really sure about this? What if Lord Ivan finds out?"

The whispering stopped when two female servants passed by. Lucy and Samantha were about to change topic when they heard one of the servants whisper to the other. "Did you see what she’s wearing? And she dared to step out in such a dress? In broad daylight!" One of the servants named Gwen whispered loud enough for Samantha to hear, and a smile of disdain reached the servants lips.

"Typical of a blood servant, they end up becoming nothing more than a Lord’s concubine. A few days is all it takes, and we’ll start differentiating her figure to that of a stick." They giggled mockingly, and Lucy was about to give a sharp retort when Samantha grabbed her arm, stopping her from answering them. When Lucy assumed she was going to let those servants get away with it, Samantha raised up the small sack of Velvet beans.

"Shall we test it?" She wriggled it slightly in Lucy’s face, grinning like a Cheshire cat, and Lucy, who guessed the meaning behind her words, returned the mischievous smile. Before one makes a final judgment, it’s wiser to use a test subject, and since the test subjects are of no importance to the Palace, why waste their presence.

Taking out one of the velvet beans from the sack, Samantha handed the rest to Lucy and tip-toed to the two gossiping servants. She walked right through their middle, bumping into both servants who didn’t sense someone was approaching them from behind, and Samantha made sure her actions came out rude, but accidental.

"Hey! Are you blind??" They both shot an angry glare at Samantha who immediately bowed her head in apology. "Pardon my manners, I wasn’t looking ahead." Samantha quickly apologized as though it was never deliberate, but the female servants who noticed she was more timid than expected, exchanged devious glances before deciding to pull her legs for a while.

"Aren’t you the green-eyed maiden? Oh my! You should thank your stars that Lord Ivan was kind enough to bring a weird slave, especially one from a Brothel to this Palace." One of the servants named Anaïs eyed her from head to toe, "and do you know servants as yourself are not allowed to wear such expensive clothes like this? What do you think you are? Someone special because you’re a blood servant to his Highness?"

"Twinkle twinkle Little snitch..." Lucy nonchalantly sang as she walked up to Samantha, placing an arm around her shoulder, "....mind your business nosey bitch." She smiled rudely at the servants who were taken aback by the indirect insult.

"Of course, why am I not surprised it’s Lucy?" The servant named Gwen retorted sharply, and Lucy sighed before saying. "It’s clearly because I’m awesomely known, and you two are awful to a certain degree." She fired back in a monotonous tone that alleviated their anger.

"You..."

"Before you judge someone without using common sense, make sure you’re not a sinner who is judging other sinners for sinning differently. Okay?"

"Are you..." Just as the servant named Anaïs was about to finish her tirade and start with Lucy, she suddenly felt an itchy sensation behind her back. At first, she couldn’t understand what was happening and pictured it as a normal itch, but that was until she began to scratch like crazy.

Samantha and Lucy, who were waiting for the show to begin, didn’t hide their surprise when Anaïs started scratching. They could not help but chuckle at the sight of Anaïs’ discomfort.

"Gwen! Help me!" Anaïs continued to scratch and squirm when the itching intensified, and Gwen, who was unable to explain what was happening, glared accusingly at the two servants.

"You’re behind this, aren’t you??"

"Perhaps this is just the universe’s way of punishing her for her cruel behavior. If you have nothing good to say about others, then I advise you to sew your lips together." Samantha, who had been feigning timidness, spoke back to the two servants, but Anaïs, who was currently suffering from a severe case of itching, no longer concerned herself with the discussion.

"Anaïs!" Gwen watched in horror as Anaïs’s back began to contort and twist, as if something was crawling under her skin. She let out a yelp as she scratched furiously at her back, her face twisting in pain.

"Let’s get out of here!" Anaïs, who could no longer stand the itching, hurried away from the two servants, while the worried Gwen followed her.

When they were gone, Samantha and Lucy shared a triumphant look. "What do you think?" She asked Lucy, "the itching only lasts for a few hours, and I would say I’m being lenient with Princess Claire since two days of not walking is nothing compared to a few hours of receiving constant itching."

"I swear to God I never knew you had this side in you." Lucy, who appeared at a loss for words, was taken aback by Samantha’s outrageous plan. She had assumed Samantha was nothing more than a weakling, a confused little lamb, but she couldn’t stop herself from feeling quite pleased with this new side of hers.

"I was never like this." Samantha truthfully asserted before taking a deep breath, "but, I’ve been through a lot, Lucy, and I don’t want to receive any more stomping on my face. The world was never kind to me, why should I be to them?" The silent pains of what she had to go through in the slave establishment and Brothel had changed her in more than one way. No matter what anyone says, she was still a human who had feelings, and those feelings can change a person when the limits set had been crossed.

If anyone tries to look down on her or mistreats her, she won’t fold her arms anymore. She already did that for too long and it was time to make a switch.

"What are you doing here?" The husky voice of Lord Ivan alerted the two mischievous maidens of his cold presence, and Samantha didn’t hesitate to slip the white small sack underneath the hip of her skirt.

"Little Lamb."

"Yes, My Lord?" Samantha immediately turned to look at Ivan who was approaching where she stood with a deadpan demeanor, and her mind raced with panic.

Did he see the velvet beans?? God, now she’s in big trouble!