The Blood Bride

| Chapter 4: The Blood Moon Rises |

Clara yelped to see a servant dressed in black.

"Forgive me madame, I am the head butler of this estate, my name is Antoine D'Collette." Antoine greeted with a stoic look.

"How do you know my name?" Clara cautiously asked.

But the butler's face remained unchanged at the Hedgehog's question.

"My Lord has informed me of your arrival. He's been expecting you."

Now this left her confused, how could a high ranking noble of the King's court, want anything to do with her? A commoner from a small village in the countryside.

"I-I'm sorry, sir, but there must have been a mistake. You see, I was just trying to get home, but there was a fog that blocked my way." Clara tried to explain the situation, but Antoine just raised his brow.

"Madame, there hasn't been any fog during this night."

Looking at the man like he'd gone insane, she turned around to see that he was right. The fog behind her had disappeared in an instant and that she was miles away from her village. Horrified and confused, Clara turned back to Antoine.

"Why did you say they were expecting me?"

"My Lord has sent you an invitation for this evening's Gala." Antoine said with a bow.

"What? I never once received an invitation."

"Why don't you look into your pocket?"

Clara eyes at the butler with suspicion as she reaches in the pocket of her apron dress, she feels something. It was thin and smooth like fine paper. She pulls out the item to reveal a sealed envelope with her name written in fine penmanship. Fear flooding into her body, she opens the envelope with shaky hands and reads from it.

"Dear Ms. Hedgehog,

You're cordially invited to Lord Shadow's Gala for this evening. We humbly wait for your arrival. If you are unable to dress formally, worry not, we shall provide you a beautiful dress. Tonight, will be a night that you'll never forget.

Signed,

Lord Shadow"

With those last words leaves her more frightened than ever. Unfazed by her scared demeanor, Antoine turns around and opens the gate with a loud creak.

"This way, madame."

He leads her towards the castle. Clara looks back to where she had come from, and eventually followed. The doors opened, on each side rows of maids awaited as they all bowed to her.

"Good evening, Ms. Hedgehog." they spoke in unison.

Clara awkwardly waves at them.

"H-Hello..."

Antoine nods to the maids before gesturing Clara to follow him, as they walked upstairs and through the hallway. She took notice at old portraits of the Mobians in their finest outfits with a hint of seriousness. They must have been the Lord's ancestors, yet there was something strange about these paintings. Finally, they made it to the golden doorway, Antoine opens the door with a key he pulled from his pocket vest. The butler allows Clara to see a luxurious bedroom worthy of a princess.