Chapter 342: The day
The laughter of the fairies and Remus filled the gardens as Arabella sat upon the grass, watching.
Liriel took her shoulder for a seat and shared her joy in that moment.
"I see you’ve applied Lucisnupta to your hair," the fairy half asked.
"Yes," she smiled, taking a strand of her own hair in her hand, "The girls insisted,"
"Its shine will rise with the moon tonight," Liriel started before her expression saw a sudden shift, "As long as you’ve applied it exactly three nights ago,"
"Yes, it was done in the required frame of time," the young woman chuckled.
A thin, chirpy voice joined them, "I can’t believe Silas is getting married!" Floriel placed her behind on Arabella’s lap.
"No. You are right," Liriel added, "I thought I wouldn’t live to witness this day or... Night, but then here you swooped in and stole his heart,"
Arabella kept her peace, but her face alone spoke loud enough. Her already pink cheeks were turning red by then as she played with a few blades of grass between her fingers.
"He’s always been so guarded around others," Floriel first had a somewhat pensive look before her eyes widened and snapped onto Arabella, "Tell me, have you ever seen him smile?"
"Oh... Yes, I have," by then Arabella wished to dig her head in the dirt, "He allowed me to see it,"
"That is wonderful!" Floriel cupped her mouth as if she’d just heard the craziest, single most shocking thing ever.
"Indeed, it is," Liriel merely beamed and nodded, "But I expect your visits to the village will now become more frequent,"
Her chin rose, earning her a confident outlook to indicate that it wasn’t a mere question or suggestion. It was a genuine wish of hers and an open invitation.
"We will make sure to come by whenever we can,"
"Where is he by the way?" Floriel flew up to Arabella’s eye level.
"I am not sure. We are not allowed to see each other today as we are the bride and groom,"
"Oh, right! I forgot about that," the fairy simmered and floated back down.
"I believed this was a custom only practiced by humans, but it turns out vampires do it too," Arabella titled her head to the side.
"Well, yes, since vampires and humans are the two species that look the most alike, they share a lot of their customs. They adopted traditions and practices from each other for centuries," Liriel gave the woman’s shoulder gentle little pats that she barely felt.
"Arabella!" Ada’s voice came from a distance as she sped towards them, "We really need to get back inside. You have to try your dress out one last time before the ceremony, please," she blurted the moment her feet stopped walking.
"But... We have guests," she murmured.
"No more excuses, please," Ada dragged the last word out.
"It’s alright, you can go ahead. I will go find Silas and chat his ears out for a bit," Liriel flapped her wings and got off of her shoulder.
Silas tried to stop listening in but failed every attempt at it.
He was very grateful that she insisted on him feeding before the wedding otherwise all of it would have just been unbearable.
Not seeing her was enough, he couldn’t hold off on eavesdropping too on top of that. Not even for that one day.
Silas stood in his room, at his desk, adding the finishing touches to his newest project. The vampire had spent every free waking moment, every spare second on carving that piece.
Thankfully, that night was the night and he’d finally get to pull the veil off of it.
Footsteps clacked the marble flooring outside of his room so, the veil immediately went back on to hide the new sculpture.
A few seconds later, a knock on the door came that revealed Mr Carlton once permission to enter was given.
"Master, your suit is ready. The tailor awaits your arrival at the fitting room on the second floor,"
"I will be there in a moment," Silas picked up a clean cloth and headed for the curtains.
"There is also Madame Liriel that has requested to see you," the butler added.
"Tell her to join the tailor on the second floor,"
It took him five minutes to wash his hands and stand at the fitting room doors.
"Master," the tailor bowed before him.
"There you are! Look at you! You seem so excited today," Liriel greeted him in her own way.
Silas looked as warm and excited as the chopped wood of a dead tree. In other words, not at all.
The vampire barely even reacted to them and merely gave a subtle bow before Liriel.
"I really thought that I’d die before this day came. Quite literally," she added.
"Yes, I believed so as well," he replied dryly.
"Always so charming, I see," she chuckled, "But since we stand here today, then I assume you’ve sorted things out with your bride," the fairy half asked.
"More or less," the vampire walked past her to stand before the mannequin donning his suit.
All white and laced with touches or silver here and there. Namely the belt that would carry his sword and dagger.
Silas had taken the time to bring the sword out of the trophy room and prep it for the occasion as it was tradition for a warrior.
"If you please, Master," the tailor finally spoke, "It is best to be done with the trials and perform the last touch ups before nightfall,"
Liriel flew onto one of the available sofas and settled upon one of its arms. Silas took his time to put the suit on before coming back out in the open.
"I see we will have two angels to behold tonight," Liriel nodded while admiring Silas, "What a delight!"
"Thank you," he said simply.
They both kept quiet, allowing the tailor space to focus on his craft. Even though Silas gave the impression not to care about such details, when it came to his appearance, he did care.
He especially cared about the fact that her eyes would be on him.