Captured To Become A Vampire Prince's Bride {Book 2}

Captured To Become A Vampire Prince's Bride {Book 2}: Chapter 12

"Some members of the Monaghan family are here: your aunt and uncle. How about I take you to meet them?" Leyton appeared in front of me with a warm smile.

I accepted his offer and he hooked arms with me to guide me to my relatives. As we walked to the opposite side of the ballroom, I saw a long queue at the back leading to the donation box which had a blank black screen above it. Those at the front of the queue would scan insert a white card the same size as a bank card, tap some buttons on the keypad and then leave.

"How do the donations work?" I asked Leyton.

"In their invitations, all the guests had been given a plain white bank card. They can deposit however much money they want on to it and when they want to use it, they simply put their finger on its fingerprint scanner, enter the desired amount on to the machine's keypad, and that money will be taken off. Think of it like a gift card."

"Why is it blank?"

"Discretion and security. If it's plain, no one knows who the card belongs to so they'll be less inclined to steal it, and all the card numbers aren't on it. Most people here just drop the card into the machine, which takes all the money off of it."

That was quite a smart invention. It was kind of on par with contactless payment, except it was much more discreet and you could use however much you liked. I felt like the people here would be donating fortunes. That was good, the people on Nox Aterrima needed it and that was the point of this masquerade.

A red number flashed up on the screen: 315,000au

Leyton told me that every half hour, the donation machine would announce the average amount of donations were being given, and 315,000 for an average was a lot. It meant people had donated more than that too! The screen showed the same value on the much larger one at the front, where everyone could see.

"Leyton, you look amazing!" The lady in the gold mermaid gown said as he bowed to her and the other man and woman on either side of her.

"Thank you," he responded coolly, and then turned and held out his arm to gesture towards me.

I smiled at the three and then they bowed down to me, I nodded my head at them.

"Arianne, this is The Duke and Duchess of Astrus Patriam, and their daughter, Lady Sabrina." Said Leyton, gesturing each of them as he said their names.

I remembered them, they came to the castle for a few weeks, including Halloween. Sabrina was the younger cousin of Alexander who sat beside me at the dinner table. She was so friendly. She'd grown so much! Her mother, The Duchess, was rude to me, I also remembered that. She called humans weak or something along those lines. Her smile seemed forced as she looked at me. The Duke, I didn't recognise. He looked friendly enough though.

"This event you and Charlotte organised is just splendid: a perfect way to raise money for Nox Aterrima. How is the King doing? I haven't heard from him in so long," said the Duchess.

"It was all my brother's idea. We should be congratulating him. Charlotte and I only did as he said. The King is holding up as best as possible in this situation. He and his board are doing the best they can."

Figuring this was how the majority of the conversation was going to go between Leyton and my aunt and uncle, I turned my attention to Sabrina, who stood with her hands clasped in front of her.

"You've grown a lot," was all my smart mouth could conjure up as a conversation starter, "how old are you now?"

"I not long ago turned 16."

"If I knew, I would've gotten you a gift."

She smiled again and looked past me for a brief few seconds before locking eyes with me again and blushing. I turned behind me to see what she saw and then grinned at her. It was a boy who was staring at her not too far away! Maybe that was why she was so quiet.