Raelyth and Valerie finally reached the fifth floor. She discreetly heaved for air so he wouldn't worry if she was out of breath. The fifth floor held almost no rooms as they walked through the passageway until they came to a stop before two doors that were closely together.
"This is your room. I would love if you stayed beside mine, so I could watch over you properly," he explained, lest she got the wrong idea. When Valerie nodded without a word, Raelyth pushed down the doorknob and opened the door; they stepped inside.
The room was... simply beautiful. Painted in pale cream, a four-poster bed stood at the center of the big and spacious room. A rose-coloured canopy lay atop the bedposts, and drapes of the same colour covered the bed for privacy. At the side was a large wardrobe, and by the side of the wardrobe was a dresser. There was a shelf which hung on the wall above the bed, and on the left and right sides of the bed stood bedside tables with lamps. To the right of the bed was a closed door, and a few feet away was the vanity dress-up table. Valerie loved the room—she loved everything—only that it was in rose, a colour which reminded her of her sister.
"Do you not like the room?" Raelyth asked when he noticed she hadn't spoken for a few minutes now.
"Of course not. I love the room; it is very much perfect for me."
"Except the colouring," Raelyth pointed out.
Valerie's eyes widened. She wondered how he had noticed. "No, it is completely fine. The room was already decorated that way before you knew I liked the colour mauve."
"I would still love to change it for you. I will call the decorators the next day to come," Raelyth assured her, caressing her hand.
"Thank you."
Valerie noticed they were moving too fast. For someone who she always feared was mad, she noticed he hadn't even shown any signs that would tell he was mad, so she wondered what exactly made the people who talked, talk.
Lucas knocked on the open door before stepping inside. "Your luggage, Lady Thalor." He dropped the luggage, bowed, and exited the room.
"Do you need the maidservant's help in unloading your luggage?" Raelyth queried.
"Not at all. I can do it all by myself," she smiled at him.
Raelyth nodded. "I will leave you to it then. I will come to check up on you when you are finished, so you can meet the workers," he said, raised her hand to his lips to leave a kiss there before he dropped it and left the room.
***
Raelyth descended the stairs. He met Lucas on the first floor. There was more to the castle than only the floors—only if one was willing to venture further.
"The workers are situated in the meeting room, Your Grace." Raelyth nodded for Lucas to lead the way.
"I would prefer if you addressed my wife with the same title, and not Lady Thalor," he warned.
"Forgive my ignorant behaviour, Your Grace." Lucas kept leading the way as he spoke.
"You do not think I would want to make her my Grand Duchess, do you?" Raelyth asked with a small smirk tilting his lips.
"I do not have the right to think about you," Lucas responded.
"Speak your mind, Lucas. You have the right to that much."
They reached the front of the closed meeting room door. Lucas turned, his eyes not daring to meet Raelyth's. "Lady Madeline is still out there, Your Grace, feeding everyone with the information of being your wife and soon-to-be Grand Duchess."
"I do not wish to marry Lady Madeline nor make her my Duchess."
"Forgive me, Your Grace, but the woman is strong-headed, and she may not listen to you. It might become an issue if she dares to meet with Her Grace, Lady Thalor."
Raelyth thought about it. Whatever he had tried to do to remove Madeline from his life was almost failing. He had gone to one of the noblemen he worked with—Benjamin Harlow—in search of a wife before Ethan Valencia had come with a proposal for him. Benjamin had been so quick to match his daughter with him, and even after Raelyth had said he was not interested in the marriage, Harlow's daughter, Madeline, in particular, was not done with him.
Raelyth sighed. Thinking about it was putting a migraine in his head. "When it comes to that, I will arrange it myself. I need to address something before my wife comes down."
"Yes, Your Grace," Lucas bowed, then turned and pushed the door open.
Every single employee that was in the space bowed at Raelyth's entrance. He made his way to the platform. "You all must have heard from Lucas the reason you are called to this place."
"Yes, Your Grace," they responded in sync.
"And before she arrives, I would like to make one thing clear. My wife should never be seen in the South Wing." The employees showed little to no reaction—each and every one of them had been given the same warning upon their own entrance. No one knew what was kept there or held in the South Wing except their master himself and, most probably, Lucas.
Raelyth's workers consisted of mostly vampires and a few humans.
"Yes, Your Grace. We would make sure to keep Her Grace away from the South Wing," Momo, the head of the maidservants, responded, and the others bowed in agreement.
"Great. Send one of your girls to bring my wife." Momo directed Bethany—a vampire—who hurriedly left the meeting room, only to return a few minutes later.
Raelyth watched as Valerie slowly walked into the space, her moonlit eyes glowing as she tried to look at almost everyone who was bowing and welcoming her presence. His eyes moved to her dress; she had changed into a rose-coloured, long-sleeved dress which showed her collarbone and almost made way for her cleavage. Her sandals were still in place, so were her jewelleries. She had only untied her hair from the ponytail.
"Come up to me, my wife," he said. Valerie nodded shyly and made her way to stand beside him.
"You have a lot of workers," she whispered.
"Does it bother you?"
"Not at all," her response accompanied a shake of her head.
Raelyth directed his gaze back at the crowd. "This is my wife and soon-to-be Grand Duchess, Valerie. I would want nothing but obedience and respect towards her."
"Yes, Your Grace." They all bowed at Raelyth, then moved their gaze to Valerie. "Welcome home, Your Grace."
Valerie's eyes widened at their sync—they were so in tune with each other. She moved to reciprocate the bow when Raelyth placed a hand on the small of her back to stop her.
"You can all exit the room," Raelyth ordered, and the crowd left the room at an unhurried pace. When it was left only him and his wife, he turned to her. "A Grand Duchess does not bow to those beneath her."
"But... I am not yet--"
"You will be soon," he cut her off. "You will get to know their names later on. After lunch, I will take you on a tour around the mansion."
"Yes," she responded, although the caress of his fingers distracted her.