Feisty Human

"Feisty, is she not?" suggested Vance in a teasing manner. The way he said it made Melva feel like she was his pet or something he was showing her to someone else to brag, so it irked her.

"Nothing but sweet, I suppose." Rosetta had a frown on her face, displeased by Melva's retaliation. Melva was also displeased by her rudeness, so she couldn't care less if the woman despised her. "Where are you from, Lady Melva?"

"Ichorhold, Ma'am," answered Melva curtly. She was not keen on entertaining Rosetta with pleasantries.

Rosetta seemed startled, as though Melva had given an unexpected answer. "Oh, my… You are the blood moon lady. A human." She turned to Vance and gave him a questioning look. "You are taking a human as your mate? I meant no offence to Lady Melva, of course. I am sure she is a fine human."

Melva almost rolled her eyes at the last sentence. It was obvious that Rosetta was offending her. She had been doing so from the second she had entered the shop. Melva had no idea why Rosetta, who barely knew her, despised her so much that she had started their first conversation with an insult.

"A feisty one at that," added Vance to annoy Melva further and proceeded to answer, "The King insists that I marry her. My hands are tied,  really. I cannot disagree with His Majesty."

"Pity," commented Rosetta, glancing at Melva. "I wish you luck in keeping her safe, Your Grace. The werewolves are hungry for power. You have been away for two years. They are very prepared to take your place the moment they are given the chance—the tradition, I mean. I shall hope the time will not come for someone to challenge your position."

"Even when the dreadful time comes, you shall come to my rescue. You are on my side, right?" There was a threat behind Vance's words and Rosetta knew it immediately as her face fell. 

"I will. Without question," said Rosetta in a blink, bowing her head obediently.

The display of authority made Melva wonder what Rosetta was to Vance. Was she also a werewolf in his pack? It would explain the hatred she had towards her because she would be his alpha's mate, or in other word, his weakness. And after knowing that Melva was a human, her hatred intensified, for a human was much weaker than werewolf, making her easy to dispose of in other werewolves' eyes.

There was also a possibility that Rosetta worked for Vance as his subordinate in his duke duty. However, Melva was not familiar with the hierarchy of this authority system, so guessing blindly would not give her any results. She only knew that a duke is one rank below the King, which meant that Vance had a considerably high status. Many people would be below him in the social rank. It would be impossible to point out which rank Rosetta belonged to.

The atmosphere had turned tense with Vance threatening Rosetta, Melva hoped that they would leave the shop as soon as possible. It was uncomfortable to be there any longer. She left Vance's side and grabbed the two wooden boxes on the table that were prepared by Rosetta's assistant earlier.

When she returned to Vance's side, Melva had to whisper to his ear so that she could distract him from glaring down at Rosetta, who had not raised her head. "Can we go back to the manor now, Your Grace? I think we already have what we need."

Fortunately, Melva's attempt at distraction worked as Vance looked away from Rosetta to tease her, which she couldn't care less at the moment because her priority right now was to leave the shop. "Sure, Melva. Anything for you."

Vance took out a coin pouch from the pocket in his coat and threw it lightly towards Rosetta, who easily caught it with her hand reflexively. "Keep the change. And keep your word. We are leaving."

"Yes, Your Grace. Thank you for your generosity. I wish you a safe journey." Rosetta bowed again, her long maroon hair covering her face when she did. 

How could it be possible that Vance turned such an arrogant woman into an obedient servant with merely his words? How much power did he exactly have over everyone in Nightwind? Melva might need to be careful not to anger him while bargaining with him in the future to free Ichorhold from his grasp. She needed to be mindful of what to suggest in return or he might take it as an offence to him.

Firstly, Melva had to find out who knew about Vance's condition besides Father Seymour and the King, for she could not possibly ask them to be her ally. If only she could find someone who could lift the curse, that would be the perfect suggestion for the bargain. However, if it were that easy, Vance would have already been freed from the curse a long time ago. She couldn't even travel anywhere alone without his permission or his tagging along, much less find an ally for her cause.

While Melva was distracted with her thoughts, Vance snatched the two wooden boxes from her hands as he led them back towards their carriage. She gave him a questioning look and he answered, "I simply cannot let a lady lift heavy things. It is not proper."

In fact, Melva was sure it was because they were now outside the shop where the townspeople could see them. Vance obviously didn't want to be seen with empty hands while the woman walking by her side had her hands full. Such a prideful man wouldn't fancy being seen to be anything less than proper.

Melva let Vance carry the wooden boxes for her to humour him. Besides, it didn't cost her anything, so there was nothing to lose. In fact, it was better this way, for she was free from having to carry the load.

Mr. Horgan sprinted hurriedly towards Vance when he saw him carrying the two wooden boxes and rushed to take the load from him. "You should have asked for me, Your Grace. I could carry the load for you."

"There was no need, actually. It is not heavy," insisted Vance, but he let the coachman carry the weapon boxes for him anyway, probably because Mr. Horgan would feel useless if he wasn't allowed.

After they were all in the carriage, Vance ordered Mr. Horgan to drive them back to the manor. Melva realised that it was already late in the afternoon when she caught sight of the sun gradually setting. She had lost track of time while being outside, but today was fun, in a way. She discovered so many new things that she had not seen in Ichorhold. She wished Vance would take her outside like this more often. Or better, if she was allowed to travel alone, so she could enjoy the world to the fullest.

As soon as they were seated in the carriage, Vance held Melva's hand again and she flinched because of how cold it was. He had been enduring the cold this whole time and now that he had been granted the warmth he needed, he finally relaxed and rested his head against the backrest, closing his eyes.

"Please wake me up when we arrive," pleaded Vance sleepily, his eyes already closed.

"Yes, Your Grace," responded Melva with a low voice, because he looked very tired and she was sure he would not appreciate being disturbed while he was resting.

It was Vance's first day going out of the manor after being bedridden for years. Obviously, he would  be weaker than he was supposed to be. Not to mention that Melva had indirectly caused him to shift into his wolf form twice in a day. Even if she was not familiar with the werewolf shifting process, she could pretty much guess it must be taxing to their bodies.

Much to her shock, Vance scooted closer to Melva until their shoulders were touching and then rested his head on her shoulder. He let out a relieved sigh as though this made him feel a lot more comfortable, causing Melva's face to heat up and redden furiously. This was too intimate for her and she was unable to keep herself calm. Even if he was an infuriating werewolf, he was still a man who was going to marry her.

She had never been this close to any man before and seeing this normally happened between married couples, she was even more embarrassed. They were not married yet. Her heart was racing and pounding hard against her ribcage. Thinking that they were much too close with each other, she tried to distance herself from him by shifting away towards the window, however, Vance stopped her.

"Please let us stay like this for a while. It is very warm…" Vance was trailing off as he fell asleep.

Melva was pondering if it was better to push Vance away from her and place his head back on the backrest. But today he had been granting her wishes by giving her permission to hunt in the forest with his company and buying expensive weapons for her. Letting him rest against her shoulder was nothing compared to that. Therefore, she was going to let him do that just for today.