Conquering His Cold Heart

413 Hope for Future

Mrs. Abney watched Vincent disappear from the room. She had a subtle smile on her lips when she turned back to look at Tilla.

She then informed Tilla about what she was going to do. “I will now apply pressure on your back with the cold water bag. Tell me if your skin gets unbearably cold.”

After Tilla gave a nod to the nurse, the nurse gently pressed the bag.

There was no change in Tilla’s expression because she didn’t feel the cold right away. However, after a few minutes, she finally felt the cold penetrating her bones.

She looked at the nurse and then said how she was feeling, “Mrs. Abney, I think my skin around my back has gone numb. I didn’t feel the cold on my skin, but now I can feel it in my bones.”

“I see…” Mrs. Abney nodded her head and lifted the water bag away from Tilla’s back.

“Is that bad?” Tilla asked in a worried voice.

Mrs. Abney shook her head and said in a reassuring way, “Oh, no. It’s completely normal to feel that way.”

However, Tilla still had several worry lines on her forehead.

.....

Thus, after putting the water bag back on the tray, Mrs. Abney said while covering Tilla’s back, “Mistress, now that I am here to take care of you, let me worry about your health. I will do my best to help you recover in no time.”

Tilla looked at Mrs. Abney and finally smiled. Her eyes, however, were glistening with tears.

“Is something still bothering you, Mistress?” Mrs. Abney asked when she noticed that melancholic look on Tilla’s face.

Tilla smiled even more widely when she heard Mrs. Abney’s question. She wiped her nose and then mumbled while staring blankly, “It’s nothing. I just… miss my mother when I look at you. She also used to be so worried about me. And you are doing the same. So, you reminded me of my mother.”

Mrs. Abney felt a slight prick in her heart when Tilla expressed her sorrow. The way she was speaking, Mrs. Abney wondered if Tilla’s mother was no more. So, she asked subtly, “Is your mother not around?”

Tilla sniffled and then replied, “She is back at our home in Orsenia.”

Mrs. Abney had heard that the current Queen was from the same Kingdom. So, she probed further, “So, you came here with the Queen then?”

Tilla nodded her head. “Yes, I accompanied the Queen. Until now, I barely missed my mother because I used to be too busy for that. But now that I am bedridden, a lot of thoughts come to my mind. I miss my mother frequently. And after talking with you… I miss her even more.”

Mrs. Abney couldn’t help but smile upon hearing such kind words from Tilla. She sat down at the edge of the bed and then gently caressed Tilla’s hair as though she was her own daughter.

She could see the yearning for motherly love in Tilla’s eyes. Thus, she warmly said, “While I am here, I will take care of you on your mother’s behalf then.”

Tilla gulped when she felt something in her throat. She smiled at Mrs. Abney and said in a soft voice, “Thank you!”

Vincent was standing in the hallway, in front of the door to his own chamber. Since his room was adjacent to the room where Tilla was staying, he could clearly hear the conversation going on in Tilla’s room from where he was currently standing.

And after eavesdropping on the conversation between Tilla and Mrs. Abney, he was happy that he made the right choice in selecting the nurse.

He entered his chamber with a broad smile on his face and lay down on his huge bed. And after staring at the ceiling and thinking about a lot of things, he finally mumbled, “I think I should take Tilla to Orsenia to meet her mother before sending her back to the Kilerth Castle.”

Vincent was beaming when he imagined Tilla getting excited in the future after he would break the news to her. “I can’t wait to see her jump on her feet and then embrace me in her excitement…” He smiled and even felt somewhat embarrassed by his own thoughts.

He kept on weaving scenarios in his head where Tilla was impressed by him and rewarded him with hugs and kisses. And while he did that, he was twisting and turning on his bed as if he was a teenager who was daydreaming about his first-ever love.

After quite a while, he finally calmed down and came back to his normal self. He sat up straight on the bed and then thought, ‘When we go to Orsenia, should I take the opportunity to talk with Tilla’s mother too?’

His eyes glowed with excitement. ‘Yes!’ He clapped his hands and then softly muttered to himself, “I think I should get her mother’s permission in advance so that I can propose to her when the time is right.”

Impressed by his own planning for the future, Vincent jumped out of the bed and hopped out of his room like a happy rabbit. He went to his mansion’s garden in the backyard and screamed at the top of his lungs while facing the rich-blue sky.

The excitement and happiness that was bubbling up in his heart were so overwhelming that he had to let it out.

After screaming at the sky, he ran back inside the mansion and then towards his own chamber.

However, right when he was about to enter his chamber, he saw Mrs. Abney walking out of Tilla’s room. Thus, he stopped to greet her and said, “I hope everything went well.”

“Yes.” Mrs. Abney smiled and gave a nod.

And Vincent gestured towards the opposite end of the hallway and said, “You may head towards your room and take a rest then. I hope Penelope has prepared everything that you might need.”

“Oh, yes!” Mrs. Abney said with a happy squeak. “Miss Penelope showed me around the room that I was supposed to use. It looks great. I am very thankful to you, Milord, for treating me so kindly.”

“Why, of course.” Vincent walked with Mrs. Abney and said, “You will be looking after someone who is very dear to me. So, I should treat you well so that you will return the favor to me by taking good care of her.”

Mrs. Abney was smiling ear to ear when she heard that.

And she couldn’t help but comment, “I think the marriage between our King and the Queen had a positive impact on at least a few vampires like you.”

Vincent laughed and simply agreed, “Yes, I think it did. I wouldn’t have met Tilla otherwise.”

Though Mrs. Abney had some reservations before applying for the position of nurse at the mansion of a Vampire Lord, she was happy that she applied.

She found everyone in the mansion to be very open to humans. And to be in a vampire’s place and not be seen as some inferior species was very hard to come by.

She heaved a sigh and said while still smiling, “I wish to see more vampires treating us humans with more kindness in the future.”

Vincent also nodded and said in a serious tone, “I hope so too. Without humans, we cannot survive. So, it is only fair that we treat humans as our equals, if not as someone superior to us. For if humans were to cease to exist, we would go extinct too.”

Mrs. Abney lifted her gaze to look at Vincent’s face. She saw the sincerity in his eyes. And she praised him, “I hope more vampires will share your way of thinking.”