Chapter 116 - The Smell

Jennet leaned her head on Hue's shoulder as they gazed up upon the bright sky. Birds were flying here and there at the top of the trees that surrounded the huge house. There was also the sound of the horses neighing and the sound of the cows mooing from the barns.

Jennet chuckled after a while of silence. "I'm wondering what mama thinks about you. Maybe she thinks you're brainless to have married someone like me." She said.

Hue pulled her in his embrace and kissed her head lovingly, "Then, I am willing to be brainless as long as I can stay by your side."

Jennet scoffed at him, "If you're brainless, I have to let you go. I need a man with a brain to stay with me."

"Do you think I am stupid?" His face soured.

"A little bit." She said honestly and chuckled after that.

"Not fair..." Hue whispered with a long face. He may be stupid about the human cultures and customs but when it came to her, he had a brain or so he thought.

"But, I love that about you..." Jennet told him with a sweet smile.

"My stupidity?" Hue widened his eyes at her.

"All of you, silly!" She corrected him.

Hue laughed and he wrapped his arms around her even tighter.

"Then, give this silly husband your precious kisses." He pouted his lips at her.

Jennet giggled as she kissed him. All of her unhappy moods disappeared instantly. It was as if she was never angry.

***

After dinner ended that evening, Rosella took the chance to meet Jennet alone in the library. The mother and daughter refused to face each other. They stood far from one another.

"I never approve of your marriage with that man," Rosella spoke. There was disagreement in her opinion.

"Why, if I may ask?" Jennet asked for a reason.

"He's not suitable for you," Rosella said, saying what she thought.

Jennet stayed calm. She inhaled a very deep breath to control her anger. "Mama, whether he is suitable or not, he is my legal husband. You have no right to voice out your disagreement about our marriage."

"You can always divorce him. A man like him isn't loyal to one. Just look at his handsome face. He must have lots of women behind you."

"He isn't someone like that. You know nothing about him."

"I am your mother and I know what's best for you. I have been doing my best to make your life easy. I have been doing the best to make your life easy."

"By denying my right to have my own freedom, is that what you mean by making my life easy?

"Yes!" Rosella said without hesitation.

Jennet shook her head slowly. Her heart broke over again. Mama never changed even after five years had passed. Mama always thought she did the right thing when she wasn't always that right.

"I'm disappointed in my own mother for what she did to her own flesh and blood," Jennet spoke softly. Her throat sored.

"Jennet, I did what I should because I am your mother. The Hanvel forgave you for what you did and still wish for you to marry into their family. Where on Earth can you find a kind and forgiving family like them?" Rosella kept talking about the goodness of the Hanvel. She tried to make Jennet see the situation.

"Is that all that you can think of, mama? Have you ever thought about me? About my opinions? About my feelings?"

"I have. Feelings can always change. It can be ignored. It is important for you to have a secured life besides the man I chose for you."

"Mama, why can't you accept the truth that I am already married? I even have a child with my husband. Why can't you accept it?"

"Because your existence was a mistake that I cannot accept. Keep it in mind that I never approve of your marriage either. It was also a mistake from your part for making such a decision."

The air between them became intense. Both of them didn't want to fall back from the verbal war. Both sides exchanged fierce glare.

Their verbal war was put to a stop when Helena entered the library. She held a tray and on the tray, there were two mugs of hot drinks.

Helena smiled sheepishly as she apologized for intruding. "I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation. I'll leave after I place the tray here." She placed the tray on top of a table, far from the door.

Jennet stopped her and stepped forward, "No, you don't have to leave. We are done talking by the way." No points to stay and to talk with her mama any longer. It stressed her body including her pregnancy.

Rosella watched as Jennet walked away. She kept a cool demeanour before them. She didn't speak a single word.

Jennet stopped right beside Helena. She gave Helena a sharp stare. Helena felt unhappy with the way she was stared at by Jennet.

"You smell funny," Jennet commented out of the blue.

She leaned closer and sniffed the air around Helena. "Yeah, your slimey smell is pungent to my nose," Jennet added and then she left while mumbling non-stop about her slimey smell.

Helena froze where she stood. That moment, she had an indisputable intend to kill. Her wild instinct was threatened and she wanted to tear Jennet apart. No humans had ever commented about her smell before because no one could smell her scent.

"What did she say to you?" Rosella's voice snapped her back to her senses.

Helena hid her uneasiness and smiled, "Ah, she just commented on my perfume. It seems she's not a fan to the perfume I put on."

She took a mug and handed it to Rosella. "Let us forget about her. Here, I prepared it the way you like it. It's best to drink it while it's still warm." She smiled sweetly.

Rosella took the mug without a second thought. She had always taken whatever drinks were offered by Helena without thinking much.

She took a sip of the warm drink and she stared into blankness, maybe to indulge herself with the taste. Shortly after that, she felt groggy. She sat down on one of the chairs and fell asleep while still wrapping her hands around the empty mug.

Helena smiled as she took the mug from her hands and placed it back on the tray. She stared at the sleeping face and a wicked smile crept on her beautiful face.

"Sleep tight, Rosella. Sleep tight as usual." She whispered.

She closed the door and locked it from the inside. A dagger appeared in her hand as she approached the sleeping Rosella. She took one of Rosella's hand and pressed the sharp tip of the dagger onto her fair wrist.

As the sharp edge of the dagger moved on the surface of her fair skin, blood gushed out from the fresh wound when the epidermis was tored open. The red blood dripped down Rosella's fingertips. It exuded the smell of rust, a good and rich one.

The blood evaporated, clouding the air with black vapour that danced in a circle in front of Helena who was smiling widely. Her eyes turned green and her forked tongue danced from the crack of her lower and upper lips.

Helena sucked in a fair amount of air into her lungs. It pulled along the dark vapour with it. That was how she fed on humans.

For the long years, she had been disguising herself as a member of the Chester family and she had preyed on the entire family as well.

However, she hasn't preyed on any of the Lockhart family members including Jennet and her siblings because, for some unknown reason, she had trouble preying on them.

It seemed someone or something else was protecting the Lockhart members from harm. For sure, the one protecting the Lockharts already knew her real identity.

***

The next day, Jennet and Hue were introduced to everyone in the neighbourhood. People from another village came to the house too and were welcomed warmly by the entire family members.

The majority of the people who came was charmed by the good look from Hue and Little Veen. It was even bizarre when the bachelor hot boys in the Lockhart family entered the picture and made the day even brighter.

Amidst the crowd, Katerina took the chance to show off her beauty to attract Hue's attention. However, she always failed because she was either swarmed by the guests who admired her beauty or tripped unexpectedly before she could seduce Hue within the crowd.

"I'm sorry for spilling the drink, Aunty Katerina." Little Veen apologised when he accidentally spilt his chocolate drink on Katerina's limited edition shirt.

The spilt drink made Katerina mad. However, she couldn't get mad at the boy or curse at him. It was because the boy was too cute. He was too cute to the point Katerina wanted to stab her own heart for falling for him and failed to get mad.

"I-I forgive you. Now, off you go to your mother before she comes looking for you." Katerina said and hurriedly left the place to change her clothes.

Helena approached Little Veen who was on the verge of crying for what had happened. She had the sweetest smile on her beautiful face when she consoled him.

"Veen, honey. Come, follow me. Let's get under the shade." She took the hand of the boy and ushered him to sit under a parasol with her.

"Do you want to try another drink? A cold one?" Helena offered him a selection of cold drinks amidst the hot day.

Little Veen shook his head. "I don't want any." He stared at the empty paper cup in his chubby little hands.

"Ohh... You want to drink the same as the one you spilt on Aunty Katerina's shirt?" She asked him.

The little boy shook his head again. He wasn't in any interest to drink anything.

Helena hated to give up as well. She took a cup of cold fruit juice and took a sip of it in front of the boy.

"Hmm, this is so delicious and cold. Want to try some? This is really amazing, honey!" She said complementing the drink she had just now.

Little Veen looked at her before he glanced at the cup in her hand. He was hesitating and Helena could read his body language.

"Okay, let me get you a new one, okay?" She pinched his cheek.

Little Veen nodded his head innocently. Helena went to get another cup of fresh juice for the boy. She returned and found Jennet was already there with him.

"Veen, why are you sitting here alone?" Jennet questioned him with a concerned look. Though she knew he wasn't a normal kid she still treated him as one to avoid suspicion arose from their surrounding.

"He wasn't alone. He's with me. I just came back to get him another cup of fresh juice. He split his drink earlier." Helena interjected and she slipped into their conversation.

She handed the paper cup filled with fresh fruit juice to the boy, "Here, your drinks."

Little Veen took it from her and replied with a 'thank you'. He was about to take a sip when Jennet spoke.

"Honey, you will ruin your dinner if you drink lots of water now. Let mummy hold this for you." Jennet took the paper cup from him and held it firmly in her hand.

Then, she turned towards Helena and apologized, "I'm sorry for troubling you to look after him. I'll just take him away for his nap. You go ahead and enjoy your time with the rest."

Helena nodded and smiled when they left her alone, standing under the parasol. Shortly after that, her smiling face turned into a sour face when no one looked at her.

The day ended unexpectedly fast and the celebration ended at dusk. Everyone left one by one and they left bringing foods with them as a token for coming to the celebration.

Then, the day turned into night. The residents of the huge house had just finished with their dinner. They helped tidy the hiding hall together.

On the other hand, Helena hadn't given up to get close to Little Veen. She took the chance to play with Little Veen in the living room. The little boy enjoyed her company and he showed off his colouring skills to her as they coloured his colouring picture book together.

"Veen, do you want to have a sleepover in Aunty Helena's room tonight?" Helena asked while she coloured the clouds on his colouring book.

"I want to but mummy said, if I want to grow up, I must sleep alone." The boy replied without averting his gaze from the picture which he coloured so diligently.

"Only for tonight. I'm sure mummy and daddy would agree. Furthermore, aunty wants to spend more time with you, my cute little baby boy." Helena kept persuading him with sweet words.

Little Veen looked at her and smiled, "Okay!" He answered with a nod on the head. Then, he continued to colour the picture.

A wicked smile crept onto Helena's face when the boy didn't pay any attention to her. She continued to colour the pictures together with him and kept praising him for doing a good job in colouring.

Meanwhile, Jennet just came out of the dining hall. She saw Helena talking with the boy. That instant, she had an unhappy feeling about her.

She approached them and called out for the boy, "Veen honey, can you sleep with mummy and daddy tonight? Mummy misses you so much." She said. While at it, she displayed a sad face to reel the boy into her act.

"Okay!" Little Veen agreed right away. His face beamed with happiness as he stood up and jumped into his mummy's embrace.

"Aunty Helena, I cannot sleep with you because I'm sleeping with mummy and daddy. I am sorry." Little Veen apologized to Helena.

Helena smiled without showing her frustration. It wasn't a good idea to get mad. She had to keep an appearance.

"That is okay, Veen. We still have tomorrow for the sleepover. Have a good night." She answered and pinched his chubby cheeks. Little Veen wished her goodnight before Jennet carried him away.

Once again, Helena was left all alone in the living room. After a while, she picked the colour pencils and colouring book and placed them on a table.

Ah, she will let him go for today. She still can wait for another opportunity. She just needed to act as an understanding aunty to fool everyone until she can prey on one of the Lockhart.

***