Valerian Empire

Chapter 61: Midnight- Part 2

Curious, she opened the box to see an off-white dress in it and when it was pulled out she couldn’t put in words the mesmerizing beauty of the dress. It wasn’t grand or pompous, but elegant. Instead of the ring cage that was normally used to get the layers below the body, this one had one piece of soft material over the other and she couldn’t stop ogling at it.

This must have cost the Lord a lot. Not that he couldn’t afford it, but he had bought it for her. She doubted if it was bought on the spot though, since dresses like these were custom-designed.

Not wanting to ruin the dress, she went in for a quick bath which took less than ten minutes. Getting out of the bath she got into the dress and after she wore it, she realized it had a zipper on the back. Trying her best, she tried catching hold of the zip but her hands fell short. Leaving it as it was, she did her hair and went back to zipping her dress in the last.

She stretched and pulled, and tried in every possible angle to zip up her dress. While she was at it, she heard Lord Alexander’s voice not far from where he stood.

“Do you need help with that?”

She heard the heels of his shoes clack across the room as he walked towards her.

The dress was such that it didn’t need any underlying chemise, neither did it have a stitched-in bodice for support. And with the zip open, her back was bare for him to see.

“Ugh, that’s alright Lord Alexander, I will be done in a few seconds,” she flustered but he swatted her hand away and she felt him zip it up in less than two seconds.

“There,” he smiled looking her reflection in the mirror.

She didn’t dare look at him. How embarrassing, she thought.

“Thank you, Lord Alexander.”

“I do miss the little you,” he sighed and she furrowed her brows in question.

“The little me?”

“The younger you would always go on with ‘Alex’ and not ‘Lord Alexander’. I have to admit you were cute back then, not that you aren’t now,” he chuckled as they headed out of the room.

Lord Alexander was complimenting her and she wanted to smile widely. Maybe she already was, as she felt her cheeks pull involuntarily.

As the carriage pulled up in front of the mansion’s entrance Katie caught sight of Caviar who nodded at her with a smile and she returned the gesture, before Alexander helped her step inside it.

Katie twiddled her thumbs as she looked outside the little window. When the sudden gust of wind blew inside she felt her body shiver.

“Are you feeling cold?” she heard Lord Alexander ask her. He was seated in front of her; she shook her head in response.

“I am alright,” she answered quickly not wanting to worry him, “Lord Alexander?”

“Hmm?” he responded looking at her and she wanted to kill herself for calling his name out loud.

She didn’t know why but it felt like Lord Alexander had grown even more handsome than before. Maybe it was because midnight was approaching soon. His usual hair was combed back neatly giving a mature look and a clear view of his dark red eyes.

He was like wine. The older it grew the better it tasted.

‘Not that I want to taste him now, maybe later, no, no, not that way!’ and she felt her cheeks grow hot with the thoughts that were running in her mind.

“Why did you say that the theater had more to offer at night?” She asked after clearing her thoughts.

She never knew the theater ran even at midnight.

“Because the night theater is mostly hosted for the vampires. Even for a human elite of a Lord, he will have to pour enough money to get a ticket at midnight. Scenes with depth and details that aren’t for the fainthearted. Things you could categorize as extremes,” he explained and then spoke in a serious tone, “You’ll be entering the actual vampire world Katie. If you want we could go else where. You only have to say the word.”

He was giving her choice, a choice to enter his world, or to turn away from it. She was intrigued with what he had said and she didn’t want to miss the opportunity. But at the same time, he was warning her that it was a dark side.

“I want to go see the theater,” she replied.

“Alright then.”

Once they reached the theater, they got inside the theater. Unlike the time she had visited in the evening there was lesser crowd. Not that she could differentiate between a human and a vampire but most of them had that air about them. Different shades of red eyes.

Lord Alexander’s hand loosely held her waist as they headed towards their seating area.

Once they sat down, a woman entered offering them drinks of different colors. She saw Alexander pick two glasses which had clear red liquid in it.

Seeing the woman exit, Katie asked Alexander,

“What is this?” holding the crystal glass in her hand.

“That’s wine made of out of rare berries that grows in the east. You will like it,” he assured her and trusting his words she took a sip from it.

She felt the taste bloom on her tongue, feeling the smooth texture as she gulped it like water.

“This is tasty,” she murmured looking down at the glass.

“Would you like to have another one?” He asked her and she nodded happily.

He pushed a button in the corner and the woman was back with the drinks to serve them. She felt Alexander lean towards her, “This time don’t drink it too fast. The berries aren’t exactly alcoholic but if you drink it too fast it might make you slightly drunk,” he advised and she nodded sheepishly, placing the glass on the small stand.

“By the way this might be late but happy birthday Katherine,” he whispered, his hot breath in her ear.

“T-thank you,” she replied staring back at him while he smiled. Her birthday wasn’t unfortunate after all, she thought in her mind.

Slowly the lights dimmed, almost blackening out the theater if it weren’t for the lights on the stage. Soon the story began and Katie watched the actors enact their scene while she sat next to Alexander.

Like Alexander had said, the story and the acting was in depth, it felt too real. There was a certain gore when a person was killed and it made Katie cringe in her seat and she felt her eyes moisten during emotional scenes.

When the heroin met the hero again, Katie let out a sigh of relief but what she didn’t expect was the coming act. As the couple finished kissing, she saw the man on the stage unbutton the woman’s dress slowly. Taking his sweet time as he discarded one item after another.

By the time the woman was naked, Katie felt her eyes widen as the scene didn’t change but rather continued.

Taking the drink in her hand she took a gulp from it.

The man touched her neck, travelling his fingers to the woman’s breast and giving it a gentle squeeze. He then moved his hand south making the woman cry with pleasure in his arms placing kisses all over the woman before they made love. Both the actor and actress seemed too skilled as they acted out their parts.

For a brief moment she had forgotten who was sitting next to her and when the scene changed, she wanted to nothing but disappear into darkness.

When the play ended Katie sneaked a look at Alexander who looked unfazed but she on the other hand felt too aware of his presence.

She was utterly embarrassed and her face hot along with her body. She didn’t do anything and she knew she shouldn’t be embarrassed, it didn’t look like any of the viewers were embarrassed as they stepped out of their boxes.

It wasn’t that the scene was dirty but she was embarrassed that she sat next to Lord Alexander watching it.

“Lord Alexander, fancy seeing you here today,” a man approached them with a woman next to him.

“Balites,” She heard Alexander greet the man.

“Who’s the lady?” The man named Balites asked as he scanned Katie from head to toe.

“This is Katherine Welcher,” Lord Alexander spoke before steering the conversation to another topic.

By the time they had got into the carriage Alexander seemed to be in different mood than when they were heading to the theater. They travelled back in silence. She didn’t know what caused his change in the mood but he didn’t seem happy.

Too many men and women had greeted him and she wondered if someone said something. Not that she noticed.

Reaching the mansion they went up the stairs. Katie was about to thank him but she was surprised when Lord Alexander took her hand in his, entering her room. Once inside Alexander cornered her against the wall and she jumped when she heard the loud bang next to her head.

“I apologise for taking you there tonight. I shouldn’t have,” she heard him speak.

“I didn’t mind it,” she said softly. Even though it was embarrassing the play was nicely done.

“But I do. I mind it when a person other than me sees you all ruffled up right after the night play in the theater. I feel the jealousy and possessiveness seep deep into my veins when I see a man looking at you as though he would like to undress you. And I would like nothing but gauge their eyes out,” he chuckled darkly, “I didn’t know I could posses so much envy until I met you again,” he said and she looked up to meet his eyes instinctively.

“I have my eyes only for you,” Katie declared her feelings and his eyes softened.

“I know that silly girl,” he kissed her forehead, “You are mine Katie. If there is some else I wouldn’t give a thought before discarding them.”