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nThe next day when Heidi woke up and went down for breakfast, she felt happy internally seeing both the sides of Warren and the lord had been occupied by guests at the table. Taking a seat next to one of Warren’s aunt, Margery Benward whom she had met previously at the Lawson’s mansion.

nDuring that time, she noticed something odd. It was the hostility the relatives held against Lord Nicholas. It was subtle but being the quiet listener, she noticed it. It was as if they were being wary of the person he was. Their interaction with Warren was relaxed but the same didn’t hold for the lord. One man at the table particularly looked with detestation towards the Nicholas. She wondered if it was because of his position as a Lord in the Bonelake empire. Regardless of how strange their behavior was, the lord smiled at them politely. The smile which he regularly wore on his sleeve. Finally when the guests did leave the mansion, Heidi felt relieved. Under the eyes of vampires and half vampires she had been nothing but careful. Keeping her thoughts to herself as she usually did and listening to the short conversations of the night creatures.

nWith the memories of what occurred last night between her and the lord, facing Warren turned out to be difficult for her. They weren’t bound my marriage yet but they were bound my the rings which they shared in front of everyone. The lord behaved the same, his expression gentle yet teasing when her fiance wasn’t around. Thankfully Mr. Meyers had stayed around with the lord and another man named Timothy who was a close acquaintance to the lord. Warren had gone out on an errand Nicholas had asked him for.

n“It started to rain again,” Lettice who was sitting next to the window looked outside at the droplets of water chasing each other in a trail on the glass. Turning around she looked at Heidi sitting on the couch, who was staring at the table. Standing up, she went to go and sit next to her friend, “Heidi?”

n“Hmm?”

n“You seem worried. Is everything alright?”

n“Yes,” Heidi nodded, offering a smile so that Lettice wouldn’t have to worry, “How are things at the mansion?” with the engagement, Heidi hadn’t got time to visit Lettice.

n“Its alright. Rhys added more men in and around the manor. He has hardly left my side,” Lettice replied picking up the quill that was on the table and playing with it.

n“He is worried about you,” Heidi smiled.

n“He is. It is a little hard though. I mean, I am not allowed to step outside the manor or stay alone in a room. I understand he means well but sometimes it gets difficult,” she sighed softly.

n“I see...” Heidi trailed, not commenting on it further.

nLettice then asked, “Have you been to the lake of bones before?” and saw Heidi nod, “I haven’t been there. I heard that it’s made of bones. I doubt Rhys would take me there,” Lettice replied as she ran her thumb over the pointed nib. He would definitely not take her there especially when her past lovers bones laid there now, thought Heidi in her mind.

nIn the study room, Lord Nicholas with the other two men discussed about the envelope he had received from one of the council men last night. The council man who sent him the letter was a person who worked for the lord of Bonelake, giving him inside information of what happened in the council. It was about the south Lord’s proposal to reduce the amount of massacre taking place.

n“Is Reuben going to go along with it? It doesn’t make sense. Why didn’t he say anything about it?” Timothy questioned to hear Rhys reply,

n“It is a classified information. They don’t want to release it right away unless they gather necessary steps to proceed with it. It is an absurd idea.”

n“No matter how absurd the idea is, it looks like the council will move with it,” Nicholas who sat behind the desk with his legs crossed commented reading through the letter, “Dividing the humans and vampires for safety,” he scoffed.

n“What about the truce then?” Timothy scratched the side of his neck and then pushing his blonde hair to the side, “If they go ahead with Norman’s idea the truce will be nullified, there won’t be a point.”

n“True but it’s written here as a test trial it is going to be only for a month. At least until the black witches are caught. Now that Heidi and Warren are engaged, Reuben might give an exception as a special case. And Norman might not even object. I have to say his idea is questionable,” Nicholas murmured.

n“When hasn’t it been questionable,” Rhys stated making Timothy chuckle next to him.

n“Lord Alexander must be having his hands full,” said Timothy picking up the glass of wine in his hand, “Talking about the lord, I heard something quiet interesting from someone.” Lord Nicholas raised one of his brow in question and heard the man continue, “He had been to the night theater with a lady. Not any lady but the girl who was rumored to have been bitten by him.”

n“But those were baseless rumors. Most of us are aware that Norman had a hand in that one. There’s nothing to trust when it comes to that man,” Rhys rolled his eyes in response, “By the way Nick, did you inform Warren about the lady?”

n“Not yet.”

n“Isn’t it better to tell him? She is his fiance after all,” Rhys suggested.

n“I will tell him,” Nicholas replied back nonchalantly.

nAfter a while Rhys went out, ready to leave the Rune’s mansion, making his way to where his wife was leaving Timothy and the Lord in the study room alone. Both the men had opened a vintage wine bottle, filling their glasses to drink the hue liquid.

n“You appear to be in a better mood than usual. Did something happen to lift your spirits so high?” Timothy asked over his wine filled glass, “What happened?” the man asked curious.

n“Just a few things,” he saw Timothy smile and he returned it back with a smirk, sipping the wine from his glass.

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