Page 16 of Married to the Vampire Prince

I walked over to the large window. The curtains were open, and the sight of the starry sky greeted me. Since it was fall, the days were getting shorter and shorter. Right now, the time was barely 6 pm, but already night had fallen. Time for the vampires of the house to stir.

I didn’t have to wait long before a knock resounded at my door. The maid opened it, and in walked five people dressed like nobility, wearing expensive suits and long gowns. Vampires, obviously.

I turned around and walked to the middle of the room to face them.

The woman at the front of the gathering – with her light blonde hair pulled back into a tight bun and very pronounced cheekbones in her face – smiled at me warmly, showing her pointed teeth. The others behind her wore different expressions. An old lord looked bored. Another man seemed friendly. The fourth and fifth women had strict expressions on their faces.

Who were they?

“Princess Grace,” the woman at the front curtsied to me. “I hope you’re well. I’m Lady Ruth Flores, and I will be your history teacher. The others are…”

She introduced each of the tutors to me.

The old bored man, Lord Arthur Hamilton, would teach me etiquette.

The friendly man with curly red hair was a musician, and his task was to teach me to play the piano.

One of the strict-looking women would be in charge of teaching me embroidery, and the other one would teach me dancing.

The names of everyone besides the first two flew in one ear and out the other for me. I knew I would have to memorize them eventually, but right now I was so nervous that I just focused on standing still and keeping what I hoped was a pleasant smile on my face.

There was so much I would have to learn to become a proper princess. So many things I’d never even tried before. I hoped I would be able to catch up quickly.

“I’ll be in your care,” I nodded at my tutors.

“No, no, no,” Lord Arthur exclaimed. “Not like that. Not like that at all.”

My eyes widened as the old vampire went on a rant about the right way for a princess to address her subordinates. I listened closely, trying not to be too intimidated.

When there was a pause in Lord Arthur’s monologue, Lady Ruth injected, “Alright, Arthur, it seems you want to be the first one to teach her. We’ll leave you two alone, then. Princess Grace, I’ll prepare a timetable for your lessons and come by in a few hours.”

“Thank you,” I smiled at her.

“No, no, no,” Lord Arthur said again. “She’s just doing her job. You don’t have to thank her. It puts you in a position of…”

With a chuckle, Lady Ruth turned around, and together with the other tutors she walked out of my apartment.

I was left alone with Lord Arthur.

At first, as he described different situations to me and asked me how I would act in them, I felt intimidated by him. All my answers were wrong, and he spared no sympathy in telling me how terrible I was at being a princess. As time flew by though and I started to learn, I grew grateful to him.

With the knowledge I gained from his teaching, the odds of me making mistakes in public grew smaller and smaller.

My lesson with Lord Arthur lasted four hours. Afterwards, Lady Ruth came by to begin my history lesson.

My learning continued until the early hours of morning.

When I retired to bed and laid on my side, looking at the place my husband had occupied the previous night, an inkling of loneliness fell upon my heart. I had only slept with him once, and yet I already missed his presence. I couldn’t even say I missed his warmth, as his undead body was cold to the touch, but… I still wanted him to be here, and to hug me.

However, when I fell into a tired sleep, Silas wasn’t there, and when I woke up in time for my next lessons, I didn’t see him either.

Chapter Six

Silas

The bed dipped under my weight when I sat down next to Grace’s sleeping form. She mumbled something incoherent in her sleep. I put a hand over her forehead and leaned down closer to her. Her alluring scent hit my nose, reminding me of fields full of lavender.

My lips hovered over hers, so close and yet so far away.

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