Taken aback by the question, Avelina parted her wet curly ginger hair to look at her.
"Huh?"
"You probably don't." Camilla smirked.
"You are his wife, thus my reason for asking. But it's understandable. You are a human and humans don't like us, but even if they do, I still wouldn't like him either," she said, leaving Avelina to gaze at her in bewilderment.
That was a ridiculous question! What even brought about it? Avelina wondered.
"Why…do you say so?" she asked, believing that this was an opportunity for her to know the kind of person Draven was.
"He is evil!" Carmilla responded with no hesitation.
"E-evil?" Avelina inquired.
"Yes! Do you know that he has been married before?" Carmilla queried.
Avelina responded, "Yes…"
"Good, good. He hadn't only married, but, he had a son as well. A little prince, but…on a cold night, he killed both his wife and son. Every vampire knows of it and since then, none of the wealthy family has ever agreed to give their daughter to him to marry. They are afraid that their daughter may suffer the same fate," Carmilla explained.
Then she proceeded to warn, "Believe me, my lady, he definitely stooped so low to marry you, a human slave, because he had no other choice. Be careful, or you may end up the same way his wife and son did."
Avelina furiously blinked her eyes.
A…little prince?
She thought, and widened her pupils, recalling that she had caught a glimpse of a photo frame inside the bedroom.
Could that be his wife and son? If so, why would he kill them?
"My lady," Thalia called.
"Yes?" Avelina answered.
"Do you know that he is…" Thalia brought her lips close to her ears and whispered. "Mentally ill?"
Avelina's wet lashes fluttered in confusion, wondering what they meant by "Mentally ill"
That man did not look mentally ill even one bit. His words and behaviors didn't seem like he was either, so what exactly were they implying? And why were they even talking in such a way about him?
Seeing the perplexed look on her face, Carmilla took it upon herself to explain on Thalia's behalf, "My lady, everyone within the royal house considers him to be mentally ill, including his family. This is especially because of his behavior. He thinks differently from the way a normal person should."
"Thinks…differently?" Avelina asked in a hushed tone.
Carmilla nodded. "Yes."
"Not only that, but he doesn't socialize." Thalia chirped in. "He is selfish and only thinks about himself. He has no tiny bit of understanding of emotions and he doesn't care about other people's feelings. He is emotionless, expressionless and…he likes everything to revolve around him."
"Ahh! That reminds me." Carmilla gasped and brought her lips close to Avelina's ear. "Most people believe that his odd behavior was a part of the reason why he killed his wife and son. He is a very intelligent man, but…we believe he is....a little bit um...cranky up there."
"He gets really mad over simple things, like…when his properties are disorganized. He punished one of the maids for misplacing his written files." She shivered in recollection of the incident. "Apparently, they appeared to be very important to him. But still!"
"Is he really that…scary?" Avelina inquired.
Carmilla nodded her head in response.
"He is not just scary, but he is a dangerous man. He is the type of man that is very aggressive. He is angrier a lot than when he is calm. Even we who are one of his kind are afraid of him. A man willing to kill his wife and seven-year-old son can do anything. He shed not a tear after the death of his wife and son."
She switched topics and said to Avelina, "But, don't worry about it. We are only trying to warn you, so you should be careful and not end up like his wife and son."
Avelina furiously batted her eyes and swallowed hard.
Are these people being serious? How could they ask her not to worry about it after telling her all that? Why did they even bring it up in the first place?
So ridiculous!
But anyway, It's no use being afraid. She knows how devilish these creatures are, so…how much worse could it be.
Either way, she may still end up dying. But at least, by marrying him, she has little hope of freedom.
…
Wrapped up in a towel, Carmilla and Thalia walked Avelina into the dressing room and wiped her dry.
"My lady, you will be having your first dinner with the entire family today, so tell us, which outfit do you prefer?"
Carmilla waved a red and green colored cashmere dress, each made with great quality, leaving one to determine its worth at first glance.
"Um…what family dinner are you talking about?" confused, Avelina asked.
"Sérieusement?" Thalia exclaimed, surprised.
But Avelina who couldn't understand their words raised her brows at her.
"I…don't understand what you are saying…" she mumbled.
"Ah! Apologies." Thalia smiled. "The family dinner basically means you will be having dinner with the entire family tonight to talk about your marriage with young master Draven. Then tomorrow night, the Old master will throw a party for you and young master Draven to make your marriage known to the relatives of the royal family and a few important guests," she explained.
"Oh…I see…" Avelina nodded.
"So tell me, which dress do you prefer?" Thalia asked, once again waving the dresses.
"I like the red one," Avelina replied.
"Perfect choice!" Thalia patted her hands with an open smile.
Together with Carmilla, they dressed her up and nicely packed her hair into a lovely bun, later adorning it with golden pieces of jewelry.
They added a slight bit of makeup on her face and helped her into her not-so-high red heels.
"Come! Look at yourself in the mirror." Thalia carefully pulled her up from the chair and walked her to the mirror.
On glimpsing her reflection, Avelina's eyes flickered, having never thought she was that lovely.
Could dirt possibly have covered her beauty this past one year, leaving her to only realize so now?
"How beautiful you are!" Carmilla sighed deeply in awe.
Avelina softly smiled at her and turned around to look at the both of them.
"When…do we leave for the family dinner?" she asked.
"Right now!" they responded in unison and interlocked their arms with hers, then led her out of the room.
They walked to the staircase and began to proceed downstairs toward the dining room.
"My lady…I like to inform you to be careful of the brothers. Do not offend the old master as well." Carmilla suddenly spoke as they strolled down the stairs, causing Avelina to glance at her.
"Why?…" Avelina probed.