Bambi and the Duke

Who knew that the housekeeper would have taken part in the council exam, thought Vivian to herself but then the exams weren't limited to the kind of species one belonged or gender. Though one couldn't guarantee that the lower and weaker beings would get an opportunity.

Now that she had completed the first part of her exam which was on knowledge, the next final one would be difficult. Leonard had told her that it would be a practical exam. Most of the second part of the exams were practical exams where they would divide and split the members into teams to work together to see how one would analyze an existing scenario.

Letting her rest back on the bed, Leonard stared at her while running his hand across her cheek, "I wonder if I did a mistake," she heard him speak while he looked at her forehead without meeting her eyes, "Mistake of letting you step into the council. It is a different world in there and you will have to be careful. Careful of what you notice and speak," she nodded her head.

"Seems like a tricksters place," she smiled, pulling up the blanket up to her shoulder. Putting his hand around her, he pulled her to close to him.

"I'm not joking. I don't know what they have prepared for the next exam but be on your guard and trust no one. Not even me."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because...you need to rely on your judgment and the gut that tells you what needs to be done at a certain point of time. Not someone else's," he advised her, "Go back to sleep now," he patted her head making her feel like a child.

"Don't pat my head," she murmured, grumbling playfully.

"Why not?" he asked, he petted her head.

Pulling back she craned her neck to look at him, "It makes me feel like a little child," she complained.

"My bad," he smiled down at her sweetly, "I won't do that again. Go back to sleep now," Leo couldn't help but adore the girl in his arms. His happiness laid right her with her.

Though Vivian was asked to catch some sleep, she couldn't help but worry about her dream. The uncertainty hung around her like the darkest cloud that was yet to pass or appear in the land of Bonelake.

The next week during the time of past noon, Vivian had to accompany Leonard to one of his relative's house. The same house where his second cousin Christopher lived whom he had a few years ago broken fang which led him to trouble.

Vivian was too young to remember a boy who had got her lamb's head cut off but both the men who sat in the drawing room remembered it quite clearly. How could they not? One was the reason why a fang was missing while the other because he was driven away from his own house.

Leo had never taken her to any of his relative's house until now, not that they had got an opportunity to go as he was always busy. This being the first time, Vivian sat in the seat a little uncomfortable with the gaze that kept passing by her by the family in the room. She was the only human who sat amongst them. If it weren't for Leo who sat next to her, a person would have seen her shape imprinted on the door with the speed she could run through the main door.

"How has work been coming along, Leonard? I heard that there has been quite some ruckus taking place around the lands you live," his uncle who was a bald man spoke to him.

"It's been resolved now. Maximillian found some of the dead beings in the village," answered Leonard who sat next to Vivian playing the game of cards while Vivian only watched the game. The family was much more traditional than the rest that they believed that a woman taking part in it didn't seem like what she was supposed to do. The only job of a woman in their eyes was to look after the family and bear children to continue the pureblooded line of the vampire family.

"Humans and vampires," the old man tched, clicking his tongue as he said, "This is why the humans need to be shown where they belong. Your council thinks keeping harmony is important but what you don't know it's the survival of who is at the top of the food chain. The vampires are the one that prevails yet see what happens. Vampires are being ambushed, killed and strung on the tree," this pulled a chord in the family as Leonard's uncle spoke, relating the incident with what happened to Charlotte.

Leonard placed his cards down, showing the kings and the queen which accompanied the cards he was holding, "The unfortunate vampires are no less when it comes to causing disruption by killing and feeing on the vampires in broad daylight."

"Unfortunate indeed," his uncle placed the cards on the table.

His second cousin, Christopher, placed his own with a jack, a nine and a two numbered card, "They need to change the system, without the change everything is bound to fall and cause a domino effect," his cousin stated as the servant gathered all the cards to shuffled and play it for the next round, "It would be a folly for a pureblood to blindly believe in values of harmony with the food they are to consume. Look at what led to the beliefs uncle and aunt Carmichael believed to be the truth. And even Charlotte."

Vivian could see that the family absolutely despised the existence of humans. Not to forget the way they saw her right now as if she was an insect that needed to be squashed. And even though Leo sat next to her, it was an unsettling feeling to be here.

Leonard, on the other hand, couldn't argue knowing that it wasn't lies but the truth.

Christopher then murmured under his breath, "If it weren't for the girl, I would still have my fang with me," his voice was laced with anger and pain. Vivian pondered at his words before she came to realize whose house she had come to now. Her eyes slowly shifted on the brown-haired pureblooded vampire, whose eyes moved quickly on her to which she looked away.

Mrs. Henz who was sitting between Vivian and her husband said, "Now now, Chris, that was a long time ago," though it looked that she wanted to brush away the topic her son had brought up, she commented, "But it is hard to believe that Leonard would go beating his own cousin for a mere lamb," she then said to Vivian, "I heard it was for some little girl who lived with them," laughing in the end. Vivian went along with Mrs. Henz, smiling uneasily before looking at the cards that were being divided into two portions.

She was that little girl and they didn't know about it. According to the Henz' family, Vivian came from a rich background as she wore expensive clothes and was dolled into a fine lady. No one knew that she was the little girl, the reason why their son now lacked one of his fangs.

In the vampire community, having fangs was what stood them apart from the other lowly creatures they didn't like associating themselves with. It was a matter of pride to have fangs and when one didn't have it, it only showed how weak they were. It was a matter of shame due to which the pureblooded creatures were always subjected to removal or breaking of fangs in a public environment to show what they deserved.

Though not much had changed in the years that had passed by, Christopher was bitter for what Leonard had subjected him for life. Of course, both the children were young. One being utterly stupid while the other being hot-headed, the night a few years ago had changed both of them. Christopher cowered himself, away from the community as the society never spared him from the talk of how weak he was. Not to forget how they spoke about a younger boy beating him while he was older than Leonard. It had changed the arrogant boy to a weak vampire who couldn't protect or feed himself fully with only one fang.

Leonard, on the other hand, directed his anger in his work line, diffusing the temper without causing much damage. But what was broken couldn't be fixed. Christopher had lost his fang which could never grow back and Leonard lost the ability to build memories in his own home when he was young.

"How's Sullivan? I haven't heard from him in a long time," asked Mr. Henz, picking up the cards the servant had only distributed on the table. He flicked his fingers calling for the maid near them. Once she walked towards them, the young girl sat on his lap and bared her neck where Mr. Henz bit into her skin, drinking her blood.

Vivian looked away from the scene, her gaze subtly moving to the water of glass that was placed on the table. She had forgotten this was how the pureblooded vampires lived. Taking fresh, available blood from humans around them. They preferred to drink directly than store and use the blood in the glass.

Once enough blood was taken, Mr. Henz let the girl get up from his lap who wobbled on her feet. The butler of the mansion came to catch hold of her and take her inside the mansion.

"What's the matter, Lady Vivian?" asked Mr. Henz who looked at her with a smile, licking his lips which had traces of blood on it, "Don't tell it's your first time seeing a vampire drink blood. You look like a doll," hearing this Leonard stiffened in his seat but not letting his expression take over his features, "Seeing Leonard who hasn't turned you into one of us, I had be more than willing to turn you to a half-vampire. You should capture youth when it's still ripe."

"Thank you but I think I would pass your kind offer, Mr. Henz," Vivian bowed her head so that she wouldn't come off to be rude.

"How sad," the bald man commented, looking down at his cards he smiled and then spoke, "I heard that Lady Jaqueline along with her husband has been trying to gain good word from you for one of their two daughters. You shouldn't let it pass, Leonard. Not only are they well established with their family lineage but also they have money and status a man would be willing to use."

Hearing this, Vivian's heart sunk. Until now she had never heard of anyone trying to find suitors for Leonard but then he had come to an age where if he could, he could find a bride for himself by picking anyone from the pureblooded society. He had picked her yet she couldn't feel like little turmoil that had begun to brew in her mind.

"Your uncle is right, Leonard. They have everything and their daughter being pretty is a plus to it," Mrs. Henz nodded her head.

"I thought of talking to Sullivan about it knowing he would approve of it," hearing this from his uncle, Leonard smiled, the smile not reaching up to his eyes but staying on his lips sweetly.

"Sounds to me that you're trying to bring their good word for me, uncle. Pardon me but I refuse to mix my blood with their family," under the table, Leonard caught Vivian's hand that was on her lap. Squeezing it gently, "I would rather like to have my decisions are taken by myself than have a second person involved when it concerns myself. And if you really are thinking about creating an alliance, you can have Christopher talk to their daughter. After all, he is the oldest when it comes to use cousins."

With the way Mr. Henz pursed his lips, it was evident that he wasn't happy with the suggestion as well as the answer that was given by Leonard. After another two rounds of the card game, the men at the table dropped the cards and went to have their meal which had been prepared for them to eat. The meal wasn't what she was used to. Vivian saw the maids offering their neck for the family, their compliance and willingness scared her.

After the meal, Vivian who hadn't gone too far to roam in the mansion had decided to stick close to where she could see Leonard.

As if her day couldn't be damper than it was, a young brunette woman arrived at the Henz' mansion. When she entered the mansion, one could hear the clicks of her shoes on the floor. A figure that was curvy, eyes that were red and smile that could slip both a man as well as a woman's heart. She wore her confidence like a piece of jewelry.

Greeting everyone in the room, the woman went to hug Leonard, "Oh, Leo! It's wonderful to see you here," she left a kiss on his cheek. The surprising element for Vivian was that Leonard didn't cringe or make face and instead he smiled at her politely.