Married To The Mad Vampire Lord

Nightbrook was a vampire land where nightlife was something normal, where many nobles slept all day and lived at night, some even having tea parties. And in one of the many elite homes where the lights were bright and activities were going on in the middle of the night, one in particular was hosting a blood tea party, where elite vampires could be seen making their way inside the big mansion that belonged to none other than Cordelia Garth.

Candles burned brightly in the chandeliers, casting a warm glow over the grand hall. Every guest she had invited moved gracefully, a human slave trailing beside them with trays of blood tea and snacks. To her, humans were meant to stand there, to be readymade food for them, and she made sure it was like that now.

She was known to throw lavish blood tea parties in the land after her name had begun to be known, not because of her father, who was no good now that everything he had had gone into debt, but because of the achievements she herself had started to make, forming connections with deep-rooted pureblood vampires who were old money.

And just like many of her blood tea parties, tonight was no different. All her friends and acquaintances did not fail to show up. Only today, Cordelia had organized this for a reason, and because her mood had been ruined just that morning with a piece of news she had heard spreading around.

But because these rumors were too absurd for her to believe without hearing them from a good source, she had organized this party and invited those she knew would clarify the news for her and confirm it wasn't some baseless gossip. If only she were welcomed into the royal castle now like she had been when her aunt was queen, she wouldn't have needed to confirm it from others. Humph!

She should be a welcome guest and family in that royal house, but all thanks to a certain someone, who had cleared that bloodline, she now had no place or close blood ties to royalty! And instead of making up for it by wanting to marry her beautiful self as their parents had arranged, he had gone on and caused his own death by pushing her away!

One could say she was in a sour mood because of the rumors, but she had to put on a smile with her friends to get the truth out of them. If she hadn't been so busy with her establishment, she would have been the first to hear of this.

Cordelia held her chin high, her painted red lips maintaining a kind smile and her dark red eyes glimmering as she moved with elegance, showered with compliments from every direction of the tea parlor where men and women alike were gathered.

She knew she was already pretty, okay, but hearing it made it all the more pleasing.

"The red dress looks so beautiful on you, Lady Cordelia. Where did you get it from? I would love to own something like that in my wardrobe," asked one of her guests, eyeing the stunning dress and the expensive jewelry adorning her delicate, pale neck. Dangling from her ears were black diamond earrings that screamed of wealth.

At those questions directed at Cordelia, her smile widened, and her mesmerizing red eyes turned on the average-looking vampire who had dared to ask, as if she could afford it, even if she were told the price.

"Oh, Emmy, this dress costs a fortune, and I doubt your entire family's wealth could amount to buying it. And even if it could, you wouldn't quite have the… body for it," she said, letting her gaze trail over the lady's yellow dress, which looked a little too tight on her. With that same warm smile, Cordelia added,

"You should stick to wearing those gowns; they flatter you far more." She gave a soft chuckle and patted the other woman's arm. "You don't look bad at all tonight, Emmy, just be careful not to soar too high, or those little wings of yours might break."

To everyone around who heard Cordelia, her words didn't seem offensive because she had spoken them with such kindness, her tone dripping with charm. And even if anyone did suspect insult, they dared not take offense, instead laughing with her as though she had said something they all agreed on.

Cordelia walked away from that group to find another group that would give her the rumors she was fishing for. Not average-turned vampires who thought they could wear what she so effortlessly wore and get complimented like the beauty she was.

I am just too beautiful for my own good that these women think they could be like me, she thought as she made her way to the main table meant for the important people of the tea party.

Every person sitting there greeted her and tried to get on her good side by complimenting her looks and her house. But she wasn't one to give back compliments, because she would be lying to these women if she told them they looked as good as she did. Hence, she got into the gossip part and began fishing for words from women who liked to run their mouths and had no grace in shutting them once they opened.

"...Yes, we totally heard about it too, Lady Cordelia. I thought they were baseless rumors as well, but I confirmed it from the princess just this morning," said one of the women sitting around the rounded table, who happened to be a distant relative of their current queen.

The vampiress who had spoken continued when she noticed Cordelia's interested dark red eyes on her. "From what I was told, the king caught the mad vampire and then forced him to bring the human back to Nightbrook. It was said the human had been kept away by him in some other land after the hunt."

"That's impossible. The human couldn't have been alive, right, Cordie?" exclaimed Stephanie Rothbarth, one of her friends who had been part of those in her group during the yearly hunt. "We watched you send her into—"

A dark glare from Cordelia made Stephanie swallow her words, belatedly realizing that they were not alone in the house and that many guests, who had no idea they had dealt with the human that day, were around them. It wasn't like they would be sentenced for it, as it was a totally normal thing to kill during the hunt. It was just that now, with the king said to have taken this human back under his care to avoid war with the human land, they might get in trouble for it. Not to mention, they had all testified to His Majesty that they hadn't done anything to the useless human during the hunt and that she must have walked into danger herself.

Stephanie did not care about some human from the hunt. Her living or dying was something she didn't care about, so long as she was still in Cordelia's circle of elite friends and enjoyed the freedom of having slaves and working with her. What she was worried about was this human ruining their lives by reporting them if the rumors were true that she hadn't died.

Hence, Stephanie composed herself and let Cordelia take control.