Under the vampire Lord's protection
Chapter 227: Just experiments

Chapter 227: Just experiments

"What do you mean not really?" Katherine took Arabella by the chin and brought her closer to herself, leaning her head away for a clearer view of her neck.

"No seriously! I am fine. I am in no danger," she marked a pause before adding, "Although I might collapse from hunger very soon," the smile on her was bright.

"Right then," Katherine let her go and clapped her hands together once, "Let us tend to that before anything else!"

Katherine watched as Arabella stuffed her face. She hadn’t lied; her stomach growled incessantly with demands until it was satiated.

After the last bite and realizing she’d made a spectacle of herself, Arabella took the linen napkin to her side and wiped at her mouth in a way she wanted graceful, but her burning cheeks betrayed more than she let on.

"Katherine," she started after clearing her throat, "What did the doctors say? the last time I asked, they weren’t able to reach a proper diagnosis," the young woman grimaced.

"They’re still unable to agree on one," the vampiress chuckled, "But I am fine now, I promise. I am more curious as to what happened with you,"

Following Katherine’s gaze, Arabella quickly understood her eyes were laser focused on the bitemarks decorating her neck.

She stuttered a few times, her hand hovering over the clean wounds momentarily. There was simply no way for her to tell the truth.

According to Silas, only him, his parents and doctors knew of the prowess his blood was capable of.

That list expanded to include Arabella and Ada, but Katherine not so much.

"Well, it seems I was overcome with a wave of courage, and I wanted to understand what it felt like to be bitten without losing blood," she hesitated at every syllable.

"And how was it?" one of Katherine’s eyebrows rose up her forehead.

"I hated it," a little cough escaped her, "I came to find out, the Mirari’s sole purpose wasn’t just to spare blood providers from pain, but to... Paralyse prey,"

Katherine did not hold back. She laughed her heart out in front of Arabella’s beet red face.

The young woman bit at the inner walls of her mouth, pinching the fabric of her gown.

"And how did Master Silas react to that?" the vampiress managed to pull herself together for a few seconds, just long enough to ask.

"He was not amused," Arabella muttered, looking at the floor.

A new fit of giggles overpowered Katherine whose figure threatened to collapse as she held her sides.

Upon finally gathering her breath, she turned a tad more serious, "Still, that does not explain why you still carry those marks?"

"I... Well, that was also an idea of mine," she twiddled her fingers.

"And he agreed!" she half asked, her pitch soaring with her widening eyes, "Goodness is there anything that man would deny you?"

The shade around Arabella’ face deepened as her gemstones were lost, seeking a landing place.

"Does it hurt?"

Thankfully, Katherine moved on to a different question and did not dwell on the previous.

"Not at all," Arabella sprung to the answer before simmering down, "The paralysis wore off pretty quickly, but I still felt no pain," she shook her head.

"That is fortunate, I suppose, but why?" Katherine’s eyes narrowed, "Why do you wish to conduct these experiments on yourself?"

"Well, I can’t exactly force them onto someone else, can I?" Arabella chuckled awkwardly.

Katherine did not seem impressed in the slightest and dismissed her attempts at brushing the topic off immediately.

"You know what I meant, Arabella," she was firm but also kind.

"Well," she fiddled with her fingers while rummaging for excuses in her bustling mind, "I suppose I was curious as to why the Mirari did not work on me the way it works on other blood providers and I am determined to explore the ins and outs of it without any exterior interference, his blood included,"

"I see," Katherine brought her hand towards her own chin, "I did not peg you for the insane type but here we are," she pushed a long sigh.

"What?"

The look of absolute horror on Arabella prompted yet another fit of cackles from Katherine. The vampiress held her stomach and bent out of shape to contain herself.

"Calm down, girl. I am merely pulling your leg here,"

When the two of them finally gathered their thoughts, both of their demeanor shifted to serene yet kind ones.

"You do seem alright tonight," it was Arabella that broke the not so stifling silence between them, "I truly am relieved," she nodded.

"Yes, I am, and I am relieved too," Katherine returned the young woman’s smile, "I am not one to ask for pain just to experiment," she chuckled, earning the most childish of frowns ever seen on Arabella to that day.

"I am still a bit worried, of course," Arabella shifted in her seat.

"About what?"

"That it is not yet over and that you’re still...," she trailed off, seemingly unable to finish her sentence.

"I am fine," Katherine dragged and pressed on her own words, "I believe I was simply exhausted with everything I had to do,"

"I am not making your life any easier, am I?" that grumble came from Arabella.

"Don’t be silly!" yet another chuckle escaped Katherine, "Spending time with you is the part I look forward to the most in my days. Well... Nights," she winked, "In any case," the vampiress took a deep breath, "If you’ve already bathed then perhaps it is time for you to rest. you don’t have to sleep now, I am merely making a suggestion, but if you do not feel like sleeping then what say you, we have us some of that good tea we usually drink?"

"That sounds wonderful!" Arabella nodded furiously, the beam on her bright as the moon outside.

When Katherine exited the room, the young woman concluded with more certainty that she’d been right all along; something had changed.

It wasn’t simply that air that felt lighter on her lungs, it was everything else around her...

For the first time since her arrival, that room and everything in it truly felt like it actually belonged to her.