"It has been a while, Mrs. Midford." Vasillis greeted and the lady immediately stood up the moment he heard the man's voice. It was familiar, but it was a voice that she had not heard of in ages.
Turning around, she saw Vasillis, the best friend of the twins, or at least it seemed that way for Alexandria. "Sir Vasillis, it...it has been truly quite a while." the lady greeted, surprise evident on her face. "Where have you been?"
He used to come to the Midford manor all the time to visit and chat, but after the argument, he had with the Lord of the Midford, his visits ceased. The last thing that she could remember about the man in front of him were the words he yelled to the Marquess; "I will prove you all wrong! I will come back and bring Alexandria."
It was a heart-wrenching moment that even she could not help but be in tears. The way he refused to believe that the woman that he was looking for was gone--long, long gone, breaks her heart.
She pities him.
But there was nothing they could do about it; it was impossible to convince a man who had his heart set on a goal. If even the demons whispering in his ear couldn't shake him, what more could they do?
The lady put on a smile to conceal the emotions from showing on her face.
"I went to Arcturus. I will be staying there for a while." Vasillis responded, looking only at the ground.
"Why not stay at the Vasillis House? I am sure your mother is worried sick, waiting for you to come home." the lady said with concern.
Vasillis did not respond, of course, his mother was worried. Worried that he would not return to continue their responsibilities as a count. He did not want the title; what he wanted was to live normally with his friend by his side.
But all of that would be impossible if he failed to find her. "I do not want to do anything other than look for my friend, Mrs. Midford."
The lady held back the sorrow from appearing on her face, he was still looking for her after all this time. She concealed it with a smile and let out a chuckle, "Silly, I am not yet Mrs. Midford. We are still not married." she said.
Vasillis bowed, "I apologize, I thought you two would be married by now for sure, but I guess not." he said.
"Not yet, but soon, yes." she responded, a bit shy about it as she rubbed her neck and looked away with a blush on her face.
"Then, Miss Millington, I will say what I came here for." Vasillis said and the lady slowly put down her hand and turned to Vasillis, "What is it?"
"Alexandria was very close to you in the past…" He said and noticed the lad in front of her froze upon hearing it.
It was a strange reaction, or even more so-- a suspicious one. 'Why did she react that way?' he thought. 'Could she perhaps also be involved in whatever happened to Alexandria?'
The lady and Alexandria never looked close when she arrived in the Midford Manor, which was why she was surprised for Vasillis to know about their close relationship even before she went to the Midfords. "Oh, Uhm, yes. Why do you ask?" she asked.
"I came to inquire about Alexandria," Vasillis said, "Do you perhaps know about the most special place for her?"
Her gaze slowly went down and she turned around, returning her gaze to the flowers. "...I do," she answered, almost in a whisper.
"Where is it?"
She stared at the flowers long before answering, "The tree near the flower field, in the middle line of Arcturus and Capella." she said. There was hesitation in her response, it was as if she did not want to answer at all, but her ending up with an answer only made Vasillis suspicious.
Vasillis stood for a while, silent. 'She may or may not have been involved with Alexandria's incident,' he thought. 'So what if she is not telling the truth..?'
He let out an inaudible sigh, it was not the time for him to doubt her answer. All he should do is just go to that place to check if he can find anything. He bowed to the lady, "I sincerely thank you for your time, Mrs--I mean Miss Millington."
The lady watched as the man walked away until he was far from sight. Even without looking behind her, she knew that someone was watching. With a worried look on her face, she turned to the person she will soon marry, "Will it be all right?" she asked.
The other who just appeared hugged her from behind and the lady returned the embrace.
"It is all right...he will not be able to find anything in there."
Before the chaos, 1888, Antares.
The carriage that Alexandria was on was already in Capella. Alexandria was already expecting things to fly into her face the moment she walked inside the manor. The anger of her father has taken the turn for the worse, he has become easily irritable and would throw a fit like a child if something ever vexed him.
But she was used to this side of her father ever since she was a child so nothing he does ever surprises her anymore.
"Do you not want to try making up a lie?" Bastien Cross asked since he knows how the Marquess would react if he found out that she did not go to the arranged meeting with the son of Duke Lockhart.
"Why should I," she uttered with a blank face, "if both a lie and a truth would have its consequences?" she asked.
The carriage came to a stop and she removed her hand that was leaning on the door, "I would rather be punished for telling the truth than be punished for telling a lie."
Bastien Cross smiled, amused by his lady's words. The lady's answers never once disappointed him, as expected of the one he respects.
Bastien went out of the carriage and opened the door for the daughter of the Marquess. They bid farewell to the coachman and made their way to the manor. They were surprised to find that everything was oddly peaceful. The servants passed by them as if nothing was wrong, and even the Marquess's study was unusually quiet. This was not what they were expecting at all, the servants should be trembling in fear right now as the Marquess fly into a rage.
Bastien Cross knocked on the door, and the Marquess's voice bade them to enter.
Alexandria stepped inside, expecting the worst. But surprisingly, a flying vase did not welcome her, instead, the Marquess turned around with a smile but immediately wore a serious face to keep his strict image. 'Why was he in a good mood?'
"Finally." the marquess uttered.
"You finally listened to me," he said. "If you always did that then everything would have been all right from the start."
Alexandria's eyes narrowed in suspicion, "What do you mean?"
"I heard it all from Alistair Lockhart." Marquess Midford said with a slight smile yet in a condescending way. "He even said you were pleasant to talk with."
"Alistair Lockhart..?" she muttered, the butler stifled a laugh.
What a lie, she thought.
