The simple breakfast that Triana had this morning tasted like the most luxurious breakfast her teeth had ever chewed.
In fact, it was just bread, cheese, and vegetable broth soup. However, the portion was quite big and well-cooked so it felt delightfully warm in her throat. Starving for two days and having unseasoned rabbit meat as her last meal made this very simple food taste overwhelming to Triana.
Previously, the maidservant told her that Mr. Vlador said that she should finish all this breakfast, or at least, fill her stomach until she could no longer swallow her food. It seemed that the man was so burdened by Triana's weak body to the point where he thought that eating much food would make her body stronger –which might be true.
Not using Stay allowed Triana to eat more than her usual portion of food. She realized that she had eaten enough, but she was going to break the rule this time. She was sure that she had lost enough weight from the torment of the past two days. All of these foods would bring the weight back to normal.
After breakfast, Triana came out of the inn and found a horse-drawn carriage parked in front of it, complete with the coachman who was seen chatting with Mr. Vlador.
Approaching them, Triana was about to call out to Mr. Vlador. However, she only had time to pull her breath because the man had turned to face her before she could make a sound.
"Thank you for waiting for me. I'm sorry if I spent time a little longer," Triana said as soon as she stood in front of him.
However, Mr. Vlador was silent, and then returned to the coachman. "We can go now,"
"Yes sir," The coachman replied.
"Come on in," Vlador said to Triana as he directed her to the open carriage door.
"I'm getting inside," Triana said. Then she took Mr. Vlador's hand that opened up for her, and helped her up. "Thank you,"
Without replying, Mr. Vlador climbed into the carriage and sat opposite Triana. After the door was closed from the outside, the carriage started moving forward.
Silenced, Triana fixed her gaze outside the window even though she didn't need to see anything as she was only using the window as a distraction for her nervousness.
Last night's incident, Triana would never forget. What Mr. Vlador did and said made her breath feel hot. She shouldn't be this sensitive, indeed. Her feelings were too soft, she realized. However, she somehow couldn't get rid of this feeling of embarrassment even though she knew that Mr. Vlador did all those things to scare her out of annoyance.
Now, Triana felt even more awkward at the silence in the carriage. She couldn't even see for more than a second the face of Mr. Vlador, who sat in front of her. If their gazes accidentally met, shouldn't she say something so it wouldn't be too awkward? However, what should she say?
"Did you eat all your breakfast?"
"Yes?" Triana reflexively turned to the source of the voice. She looked at Mr. Vlador for a few moments with round eyes.
"I asked you; did you finish your food?"
"Ah… Y-yes, I finished it," Triana blinked once to gather herself back together.
Realizing Mr. Vlador kept watching her, Triana smiled awkwardly with her eyes occasionally moving in some directions. "Well, is it possible that you… have something to tell me?"
"You look relieved," Vlador said with his cheekbones still resting on his knuckle. His eyes moved to look at Triana's chest and stomach.
Covering her chest with her entire palm, Triana cleared her throat. "Excuse me. But, I wonder what relief you mean, Mr. Vlador?"
"You look more comfortable and cheerful. No more holding your breath and no more limp bodies. I believe it's all thanks to the thing called Stay that you no longer wear." Vlador said.
Inhaling a large amount of air into her mouth, Triana's hand moved from her chest to cover her lips. She chuckled. "Yeah, actually, this is the first time I haven't worn Stay since I was 12 years old. It feels a bit weird but also comfortable. And you know what? I've never eaten that much in my life. Now, I feel like my stomach is going to explode,"
Unknowingly, Triana spoke too much. She did feel her stomach heavy with food, but her body was surprisingly light. This all made her so excited it was as if her head was framed by a bunch of flowers.
"Now, I'm sure you're in good health,"
Triana blinked once, looking at Mr. Vlador. Maybe she was crazy. Was that a shadow from outside the window? She thought she saw him smile just now.
"As long as you're with me, you won't be wearing Stay," Vlador continued.
"Wh-what?" Triana muttered. Slowly, she felt her cheeks warm slightly.
Why did Mr. Vlador say that to her? And that smile - was it real or just an illusion? What was the reason Mr. Vlador forbade her from using stay again while they were together? How long would they be together, anyway?
"Wearing Stay makes you weak and troublesome. Not wearing it is the same as removing one of the obstacles in our journey," Vlador continued.
"O-oh… Sure. I think you have a point," Triana said with an awkward chuckle.
What a shame! Why should Triana think that Mr. Vlador took issue with Stay because he thought that Triana had become more comfortable with this? He did not hesitate to show his concern. But that concern arose because it had its own purpose. He just wanted their goals to be accomplished quickly. Just like Triana, he wanted this curse to be lifted quickly so they could be separated forever.
"Mr. Vlador,"
The man lifted his face and looked at Triana with a slightly frowned brow.
"I want to thank you for looking after me and caring for me all this time. I understand that you are doing all this to make me no longer a burden so our journey will be smooth. Even so, I'm still thanking you and will try my best to be useful," Triana said.
Vlador's eyes widened for a moment. Then, his expression returned as cold as before. He shifted his gaze out the window. "Good that you're aware,"
***
When the sun had risen, the horse carriage arrived at the street whose name Triana had written down on a piece of paper before. Then, they stopped in front of a large two-story house.
"This is it. This is the residence of Mr. Winston. I still remember the image of the house – it hasn't changed," Triana said with a warm smile as she looked at the courtyard which was still beautiful even in autumn.
"Then we should meet him now. I hope the contents of the witch's note match what I expected," Vlador said with an excited gaze.
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Cursed Together With Mr.Vampire; I need to drink his blood!
مصاصي الدماء*Mature Content Born as the prettiest daughter of a Duke made Triana grew up to be an innocent, spoiled girl. However, she realizes that her beauty is the reason for all the happiness she has gotten so far. Thus, she asks a witch to make her beauty...
