Bambi and the Duke

With a sound of a click, the door opened wide for Vivian to witness what Leonard had brought her here for. She couldn’t say if she had stepped into a dream as she didn’t believe what she saw with her two eyes.

Her feet carried itself forward, stepping out in the moonlight where the snow didn’t fall from the sky but instead raised itself from the ground. Wonderstruck, she saw one of the translucent snowflakes appear from the ground, lifting itself up. Slow and steadily, the snowflake rose like the rest of them, the higher it went the darker it got until she couldn’t find where it had disappeared to.

The entire wide patio they stood on had the same effect going on, hundreds of snowflakes moving up and disappearing while the snowfall took place normally around the mansion.

”It’s beautiful,” Vivian murmured, turning herself to look at Leonard who stood at the door.

”I’m glad to hear you liked it.”

”I love it!” she exclaimed to see him smile. After a while, her eyebrows contoured in thought before she spoke, ”Is this the black witches doing?” he did say the second Lord had the help of the black witches. Maybe this place was created before the witches decided to abandon the second lord of Bonelake.

”It is,” he confirmed, ”Hard to believe, isn’t it? For a kind that we despise to create something so out of this world,” he caught one of the snowflakes in his hand, turned it around to open his palm where the snowflake turned slowly black and in a blink of an eye it disappeared.

”That’s what life teaches us,” Vivian responded back with a smile, ”To find good even in the bad ones. People are capable of a lot of things with the choices they make. Those choices turn good or bad,” loose strands of her hair waved back and forth on the sides of her face which she didn’t bother to tuck back, ”The second Lord must have been very creative to have something like this done in the mansion.”

”He didn’t,” Vivian threw a questionable glance towards Leonard.

Of course, thought Vivian to herself. It wouldn’t have been possible to build it during the second Lord’s time when there could be doubts of suspicion raised.

”No one knows how it happened but I found reports in the council department which said that once he passed away, this place created itself in a span of a night.”

”Just like that?”

”Just like that,” how strange thought Vivian as she pondered on it. What might have caused something like this to take place? Bending down she couldn’t help but touch the ground which looked slightly illuminated and when she did sudden flashes of a woman appeared in front of her eyes making her gasp in shock.

”What’s the matter, Vivi?” Leonard came to her as she stood up clutching her hand close to her chest. She shook her head, managing a small smile to assure him she was alright.

Taking her hand, he pulled her towards him, another arm of his to curl around her waist whilst he looked down at her.

”Dance with me, Bambi.”

Raising her brows with a small smile lingering on her lips, she reminded him as they were out in the terrace of the mansion, ”But there’s no music.”

Swaying her in his arms, Leonard answered, ”Who says we don’t,” he leaned down placing his head next to hers as they moved with the flakes of snow uplifting themselves up from the ground, ”There’s the wind that you can hear rushing through the trees as the leaves are rustling softly against each other. The watermill is set, beating the wood with its own rhythm,” the words he whispered next to her ear did something to her heart.

Leo could hardly control his feelings around her right now. The deserted mansion with no one but them here alone was what got his blood rushing in his veins. She looked absolutely delectable.

His initial plan had been to take her out to the theater, to watch a decent play that was being put up in the far town until he saw her dressed up. She had picked the simplest dress from the closet that was put up in the closet of the guest room. His mother had often picked out clothes and had placed it for his cousin sister Charlotte mostly. A week ago when Leonard had gone out to Isle city, accompanying an old acquaintance of his who was related to him from his mother’s side, he had bought two dresses, adding them to the collection, one of them which she wore right now.

Letting go of her waist, he twirled her in his arms before swaying her back in his arms.

Now that he had lost most of his family, Vivian was someone who belonged to the same past of his family which he unconsciously held on to, watching her like a hawk, not out of suspicion but concern. He wanted to protect her, keep her safe away from the world.

Remembering what the maids were talking in the mansion made him angry.

His arms tightened around her, alerting her to look up at him and it was as if she knew something was bothering him which he tried to conceal. Gradually the sway stopped and Vivian placed her hand on his arm.

”You have something to tell,” she looked into his dark red eyes which almost looked black due to the lack of sunlight.

”Why do you say so?” she shrugged her shoulders slightly in response though she could point out why she felt as if he had something to say she didn’t. They stood quietly, Vivian waited for him to say something as the wind began to blow in and around the mansion. The howling wind that passed through the forest sounded no less than chilly as if t carried something sinister with it. At one point in time, she also glanced to her left to look at the vast forest. And then suddenly out of nowhere, she heard him say,

”Don’t receive things from others.”

”What?” she turned back.

Exhaling softly, he repeated himself, ”Don’t receive anything from others. Come let’s get back in.”

Seeing him turn around and walk back inside, Vivian hurriedly got back inside to follow him.

”I didn’t,” she said catching up to him.

Due to the darkness, Vivian couldn’t see the frown that now marred on Leonard’s forehead as they walked back from where they had come.

”Leo,” she called him worried in the dark. After he had asked her not to take anything Jerome gave her, she had stopped not that there was an opportunity to give her anything as the atmosphere around the Carmichael mansion had been sullen, ”Why did you say that?” Not receiving a reply from him, she couldn’t help but get through the entire week that had passed by.

As the light came through the windows that were broken to fall on the ground and walls, Vivian followed Leonard unsure of what he meant. Not only had she any clue about it but it looked like he wasn’t in the mood to talk to her. Yet, Vivian couldn’t help but poke him with the question.

”Leo,” this time her footsteps paused making his stop. Leonard was controlling his cool since they had come back inside the mansion, being a vampire he had heard her without answering to her questions which he thought she should already know. It didn’t mean he was ignoring her.

Running his hand through his hair, he turned to face her, ”I heard you received a flower from a man.”

”I did but-”

”That’s what I was talking about,” he snapped.

”Why are you angry?” she tried reasoning.

”Because you took the fucking flower,” she flinched when he banged his hand against the wall, ”Are you planning to leave?” his tone serious.

”What? When did I say that?!” she responded back.

”Isn’t that what it means when you take a flower from a man,” he huffed, ”Have you been planning to leave the mansion? Who is the man?” his eyes narrowed as doubt crept into his mind.

”That’s not how it is!” Vivian exclaimed. Where did that thought even come? ”I didn’t get it from a man but a boy.”

”Boy?” his eyebrows furrowed. She nodded her head,

”Yes. A small boy I met in the market. Why would you think I would leave? I wouldn’t be here if I...” she stopped, trailing her words in silence. Vivian didn’t know from where he heard for him to think she was going to leave the mansion.

”What?” he asked her.

”What?” she prompted back to see him take long smooth strides towards her.

”Complete your sentence, Bambi,” he whispered...