Married To The Mad Vampire Lord
Chapter 180: Into Grimvale

Chapter 180: Into Grimvale

Rav did not say a word again and bowed to the lady before he left the chamber. He couldn’t point out exactly what, but something about her had changed again after her return now.

After the dizziness subsided and she could stand without swaying on her feet, Belle carefully placed the heart on her pillow and ensured nothing could get to it. Still, her hand felt strangely empty without the warm, steady presence of the heart nestled in her palm.

Gwen soon returned with her attire, and Belle took a quick, hot bath. She dressed in the clothes that had been washed and properly dried. She didn’t own any attire as comfortable or practical as this hunting outfit, and she needed to be able to move freely, especially knowing they would have to face the rogues again if they were to reach Rohan. This time, she wanted to be ready for whatever threat lurked in the vast, rain-drenched forest.

"Wait," Belle called out just as Gwen began to gather the damp nightdress to leave the chamber. The vampiress headmaid paused and turned around, only to meet the lady’s eyes as Belle asked, "You have the fast movement like every other vampire, don’t you?"

"Yes, my lady," Gwen answered. Though she wasn’t a pureblood but a turned vampire, she could still move fast and had the supernatural strength of the night creatures.

Belle looked thoughtful for a moment before she said, "Then you will come with us. I’ll need as many allies as I can to face the rogues. Can you move fast enough to snap off their heads?"

Rohan had once told her that out of everyone who worked for him, he kept Rav and Gwen close because they were the only ones he knew had no intentions of betrayal in their hearts.

And they were also the only ones who knew the truth about her being different. Belle hadn’t trusted the vampiress before, mostly because of Farrah, but now she couldn’t afford to push away help. She needed every bit of strength she could gather.

"Yes, my lady, I can," Gwen replied with a small smile, as she had always wanted to be included in something important in this castle just like Rav. She had been hoping she would get included in this matter, and now that she was, she couldn’t contain her excitement in doing something else that required her to use her abilities.

"When are we leaving?" Gwen questioned.

"Right now. Go get ready," Belle said and watched the headmaid hurry out of the chamber.

The moment the door closed behind the vampiress, Belle turned away and clutched her chest as a sudden, sharp pain tightened across it, like a needle being driven straight into her heart. It hurt so intensely that for a moment, she couldn’t breathe.

This was the second time it had happened since she woke up. It felt like she was suffocating, but she had forced herself to hide it. She didn’t want anyone to know she wasn’t feeling well, afraid they would try to stop her from going to find her husband today.

And it wasn’t just her chest. Her stomach, too, ached with a deep, twisting pain, similar to cramping, but unlike anything she had ever felt before.

Belle straightened and took deep, calming breaths. "You can’t afford to be weak right now. You have to finish this," she told herself just before she felt the presence of Kuhn in the chamber. She swirled around with a cold expression as she glared at the creature.

"You left me alone," she accused.

Kuhn shook his head, "I did not leave. I could not be in the cemetery. Reaper pets do not go there. I automatically disappeared or I would slow you down," he explained, his words not as clear as they were in the other world.

Kuhn had not yet turned into a reaper, and so he could not be near the formless spirits or they might possess his form and get him in trouble in the hands of the reapers. The human could handle it. She was born to handle it all, thus he had left.

Belle glared at Kuhn but then realized she was wasting time. "Fine, make it up to me by helping me trace down Rohan. Go ahead. We will meet you in Grimvale," she told him and then turned and took her arrows pouch and a new crossbow Rav had brought for her, then she gently picked up a special bag she had put the heart in and hung it around her waist.

Kuhn watched the human for a moment before he disappeared.

Not long after, the three of them were ready to leave. Though it was still raining and the day was just breaking into a new dusk, it did not stop them.

"We don’t need to walk into the forest through the royal castle to reach the danger zone. We can go through the forest connected here. Are you certain you can handle being on horseback, my lady?" Rav asked the lady standing before one of the stallions Rohan kept in the stable, even though he never mounted them.

They couldn’t take a carriage into Grimvale because of the bushes and the narrow paths, only a horse could journey in there. Thankfully, they had enough horses in the castle. Only, the lady was noble, and noblewomen were not allowed to ride horses nor were they taught.

Belle looked at the tall horse before her that didn’t seem bothered by the rain. The thought of sitting on such a mighty beast was challenging, but she could not possibly back down. She had mounted a horse once in Aragonia with Jamie’s insistence that she learn, and she believed she could do it again.

She nodded. "Yes. Don’t worry about me, I can manage. Has the hunt already ended?" she asked as she raised her right leg and placed it on the strap footing. With a little shaky movement, she swung her left leg over and mounted the stallion, sitting on the saddle and taking the reins. Then she looked down at Rav for the answer to her question, catching him staring up at her with his mouth agape.

He quickly recovered from his surprise at how the lady had mounted without him helping her up onto the saddle.

"I don’t know, but I believe it should have ended. But because of the rain, the announcement for the end of the game must have been delayed. If it can still keep raining until we find His Lordship, it would buy us time before the king sends men to come and confirm his death and to bring you to the royal castle."

The king would not fail to want to confirm if his plan had worked, even if the creatures he sent to kill Rohan did not return to him. Not seeing the couple among the participants who came back would make him know something had happened, and then he would send men. Before then, they had to make certain they had Rohan with them and leave the land like the lady had planned. She had said she wouldn’t stay here if they had Rohan.

They each rode on separate horses through the treacherous rain that poured down from the sky, where the horizon was gray and gloomy.

Inside the forest, it was almost completely dark, but because Belle had two vampires with sharp senses riding beside her, it wasn’t hard to navigate the dense, wet bushes and trees. She made sure not to ride too fast, mindful of the slippery path and low-hanging branches that forced her to duck her head every now and then.

They rode for almost an hour before Belle began to recognize the path they were taking.

Her throat clenched with emotion as they approached a spot where she and Rohan had once camped that night, a night that now felt so distant, even though it had only been a few days ago. It felt like a lifetime had passed since she had been held in his arms on the ground of this very place.

Her tears were washed away by the rain, and she hardened her heart, snapping the reins to hurry past the place.

And then they reached another location, one that had completely changed the course of her life, the place where Cordelia had attacked them.

She slowed her horse and looked toward the tree where Evenly, the woman who had helped her, had been thrown. But to her surprise, there was no body there. She clung to the hope that Evenly had not died and had somehow been rescued.

With a quiet breath, Belle snapped her reins again, steeling herself once more. She was ashamed to admit, even if only to herself, that her only worry was for one person: her husband.

She couldn’t bring herself to think about anyone else’s well-being, and that was so unlike her. She was the kind of person who worried even for her enemies. But now... now she couldn’t find it in her heart to worry about a friend.

She promised herself she would find out what happened to Evenly after everything was over.

She rode past the place, Gwen and Rav flanking her on either side.

As they passed the tree, Rav’s gaze flicked toward it, the very tree where Belle had just watched silently, the same tree where, just yesterday, he had saved someone from the brink of death.

He frowned, but said nothing, turning his focus back to finding the danger zone.

It took them hours to finally find a direction to where Rohan was when they entered the danger zone, and that too was with the help of Kuhn, who had gone ahead of them.

However, the part where Kuhn had told her that Rohan was, was the innermost part of where the rogues were, and they were attacked by them immediately.