~~~~~~~
Mid May. Duke Alphin's Mansion, Elrick's 19th Birthay party.
~~~~~~~
The Duke's mansion had been decorated for the occasion; everywhere you looked, you would find statues on display for the party, along with floral arrangements made of gold that had been forged to look like roses and other flowers—a decoration whose heyday had already passed, but its beauty was undeniable.
Lyra was arriving at the party, 30 minutes after the time on the invitation... She was lamenting this ridiculousness that seemed to have become her curse when her carriage finally arrived at the entrance.
"We've finally arrived, Lady Lyra... I apologize for the delay... I will understand your desire to punish me if you so wish," said the chauffeur, opening the carriage door and offering her his hand. Lyra simply smiled as she stepped out.
- "Why would I punish you, Gaspar? It was not your fault that the wheel has broken..." - Said the girl with an eye patch. - "In fact, it was thanks to You that I could been able to be here... Even if I'm 30 minutes late. At least is not like in My debut..."- Finished her while remembering how, somehow, Even when She and her brother decided to left the house 20 minutes earlier that day, they still arriaved to the debutant's dance one hour and a half late ...
- "Your highness... You are so kind..."
- "Is just basic human decency..."
- "That's more of what I have ever got from my past workplaces."
- " But is noth... It doesn't matter, fine, You win, You are welcome..."- Said Lyra once she saw the gratitude of the choffer He wasn't going to give in, planning to insist that she was an angel fallen from heaven for that minimal act of courtesy.- " I have to go now Gaspar. Have a good Night. I'll call You if I need to left earlier, but if not, the party should end at twelve o'clock ... Fine?" - Asked her gently.
- "Understood, Your highness."
And with that, Lyra went inside of the Alphin's Mansion. Looking around searching for Eleonora. The Hall and gardens were full of people, mostly friends of the Duke and their daughters trying to win the attention of the birthday boy.
Lyra walked around them, trying to not call the attention. But Well, being the only one arriving that late put some eyes in her. The people murmurating was easly hearable for our protagonist.
- "In the name of God... The Archduke's Sister is unable of arriving in time?"
- "Who she thinks she is? The Queen? If She is already that late is better to simply not come."
- "She does this always... She just wants attention."
- "Her family doesn't have any manners, they are not noble-born. And they can't pretend otherwise. That's the tea."
Lyra keep walking. For her, in the parties, there was only four kinds of people:
· The only ones worth hanging out with. They don't try to make fun of you and they make you feel comfortable. (The best group, the ultimate example is Ely.)
·The ones with no shame or fear, with nothing better to do than gosshiping about her or her brother shamelessly. (Lyra respected they didn't prettend, but still, annoying.)
· The ones Who think the same as the gosshipers, but they knew how to keep silence, probably because they were cowards afraid of the Archduke. (Nothing to Say, Lyra never talked with them)
· The ones with fake smiles and fake kindness, Who enjoyed making fun of her as if she were something for their entreteiment or too dumb to notice their obvious bad intentions. (The most annoying group of all).
Lyra was grateful that among the duke's friends there was no one from the last group, and that instead they were simply a bunch of gossipers and cowards. Nobody was important enough to distract her from her mision... Or so she thought before someone actually important showed off.
- "Lady Grimfall... What a surprise is seeing You here... Did my sister invited you?"
Lyra stopped abruptly at the sound of that voice. She turned around and there he was. The birthday boy, her best friend's older brother, the heir to the Alphin family... Elrick Rez Alphin.
- "M-my Lord. Congratulations on your day... Or Night... Birthday Night... ... Congratulations. And yes, Eli invited me. Do you know where is she?" - Lyra Said while she faced him and bowed. She was hardly trying to not look at his face, because if she did that... He whould end really hurt.
- "And you are alone? Your brother didn't send a Chaperone? He doesn't care about what other families could say? He doesn't care about you ir your honor as a Lady? No wonder why there are always rumours about You both. Tell him to start to adaptate to the norms, can You? And by the way, if you don't even know how to greet another nobles, You should get a new tutor... I also recommend you to start to arrive in time, you are not the Queen to arrive when you want to arrive." - Said Elrick with a tone that Lyra wasn't sure if it was indiference or mocking. But anyway, it grave her the necesity to punch him in the face.
He always had thoose kind of comentaries. And what was more annoying for Lyra, it was that he always talked in that 'cold but trying to hatd to be cool or something for the style' tone, so she never understood what he meant with that comentaries, even so, she felt offended every time he talked to her.
Elrick was One of a kind for Lyra. An extra-annoying-with-a-punchbag-face kind. But She never had the chance to punch him, She was a Lady, and her brother whould have problems if she decided to use the violence, si She had to keep the composture.
- "D-do You know where is Eleanora? I'm looking for HER." - Said the girl with Silver hair, desperate to go with someone she actually cared for.
- "I can scourt you to her if you wish." - Answered the birthday boy.
- "That whould be great."- Replied the girl with the eye patch.
Elrick then offered his arm to the caramel skin woman, but she limited herself to following him from his side. Lyra took that chance to look at him, he had some facial features that remembered her to Eleanora. The same shape in the eyes, the same nose... Even their hair and eye colours were similar, but meanwhile Eleanora had dark-pinkish hair and golden eyes, Elrick had a more Scarlet hair and his eyes were more orange than golden.
- "I can get why there are people that says that he is handsome... But El' is way more prettier." - Lyra thought while Elrick guided her to the mansion's terrace, where there was a little table with tea and pastries that were enjoyed by a group of ladies who eated them while gossiping.
One of them, a Beautifull Lady with pinkish hair and golden eyes, who weared a dark blue dress, raised her sight and practically jumped from her sit to go and hug our protagonist.
- "Lyra! You are here! You look Beautifull and... Oh my god, we combine!! I always knew you had good taste! But this shows that your taste is as exquisite as mine!" - Said Eleanora pointing that they both were wearing a blue Dark dress with black gloves, Even when both dresses has completly oposite styles, Lyra with long sleeves and short gloves, and black lace decorations in her shoulders, waist and skirt hem; and Eleanora with short sleeves, long opera gloves, and decorations of jewerly around her dress.
- "B-but El'!... Your dress is prettier tan mine..." - Said Lyra while trying to breathe between them arms of her best friend.
- "Don't Say that! You look beautifull! Ask anyone, they will say the same." - Answered Eleanora just before noticing that her brother still was there.- "You can leave now. No one wants You here Elrick."
- "Are You incapable of being gentle with me? At least in my birthday? I'm your brother and future head of the family!" - Answered the red-haired guy, he whould never understood his Sister.
- "Alright, happy birthday, I wish You ... I don't know, do wathever You want, I'm taking Lyra to My Friends, Bye~" - and with that, Elrick just leaved while Eleanora and the Silver-haired girl turno their backs to him.
In the middle of his way, after closing the terrace door, Elrick noticed that the laces of one of his boots came undone, so he stopped for a moment to tie them up on one of the steps of the staircase that connected the terrace to the house, crouching on the crimson carpet that muffled the sound of footsteps, Elrick heared what his sister's best friend said next.
- "W-wait! El', before going with the rest, I have something for You... Is a letter from Lord-You-Know-Who." - Said Lyra with a low tone without knowing that Elrick had a pretty good hearing, and that he wasn't as far as She thought from them.
A letter!? For his Sister!? From a "Lord-You-Know-Who"!? What kind of name was that!? Was him from abroad?
With those thoughts i'm his mind, the red haired guy while thanking his curiously sharp hearing, went closer to the now closed door of the terrace to hear more clearly.
- "Really? From him? Where is it?" - Asked Eleanora with ilusion in her eyes while Lyra tooked the letter out from her purse.
- "Here... He asked me to send it to You as fast as possible..." - Said the girl with a patch in her eye.
- "Something Bad happened?"
- "No. He just misses You. He got worried when you didn't went to the opera when You told him you were going..." - Explained Lyra.
- "Oh. Right... I need You to tell him it was just my 'Red Day' and neither my brother nor father let me go."- Commented Eleanora while opening the letter. - "Awwwww... A poet as always... He knows how to touch My heart~"
- "What did he wrote El'?" - Lyra asked curiously.
El' only smiled before holding the letter up to her face like a fan. - "I can't told you that. Is a thing of lovers~ With poetry about certain things that I can't share, not even with you."
With just those words, Lyra already could imagine what was in that letter. She still found it hard to believe how long, passionate (and above all detailed) Lord Mello's letters to El' were.
Samuel Gray Mello was generally a man of few words, concise sentences, and curt answers. However, in Eleanora Alphin's own words, "With the right motivation" he was able to compose an entire poem or 6-page letters without any problem.
Lyra still remembered the first time she ever talked to him. It was her first oficial visit to the Arcane Academy, the place where those with interest in Magic became great mages who would serve the country and the crown after graduation.
When She got the chance to walk around the terrains of the school on her own, she searched for the loved one of her best friend. And when She finally saw the white haired guy with a prostetic leg, Lyra wasted no time in asking him to meet at the library at the tea time.
However, Samuel was wrong about the intentions of the young woman with the eye patch. So he went to the library intending to follow his lover's advice to "Being honest with more people about his opinions and emotions."
So, when they met at the library, before Lyra could Even start to explain herself or show to Samuel the letter that Eleanora wrote for him... Lord Mello started a monologe... And a long One. - "Lady Grimfall, I am most grateful that you have come to speak of your romantic feelings. However, I fear I must decline them all. Please do not take this amiss; I am certain that you will become an extraordinary mage whatever specialty you choose, and it is not for any reason related to your physical appearance or the fact that you are missing an eye that I find myself rejecting your confession, if that concerns you. You see, my heart has already been tamed by another lady for almost a year now. For the sake of our relationship, I cannot reveal her name. However, even though our affection is hidden in the shadows, far from the gossip of society, I dedicate almost my entire heart and soul to my beloved every day. There is not a moment when the distance and the necessary discretion do not make me dream of the sound of her laughter, which reminds me of the song of the most beautiful sparrow... Or the smell of her perfume, sweeter than the roses..."-
- "B-but Lord Mello, I'm here to tell y-"
- "The warmth of her voice and the honesty of her soul were like lights in a sea of cold loneliness. It was as if the gods had sent me an angel to whom I would be loyal for life, just when I believed my destiny was to live amidst the cruel comments and sarcasm of high society's sharp, venomous tongues. Meeting her unleashed a feeling in me I never thought I would experience with a lady. Every time I remember her beautiful, bright eyes, like an owl's, I can't help but think that she sees into my soul and, with her talons, strips my mind of my sorrows like an owl snatching prey from the safety of the ground. Are you familiar with the concept of soulmates? That's what I found with my dear and beloved..."
- "But Sir... ... You are not listening to me, aren't You?"
- "I know, Lady Grimfall, that the world maybe looks Scary and dishonest right now. But You can take My Word, someday, somewhere, You Will find the same feeling that I found in My moments with My Beautifull lover, who's memories help me to transitates among the stress of our distance..."
- "Indeed, he's not listening..."
And with that, they both stayed ar the library around 35 minutes until Samuel finally ended his monologe, and just then Lyra was able to told him that She was a friend of Eleanora and She wanted to give him a letter from the Dark pink-haired.
It was a fun memory now, but for Lyra it was still hard to belive that a man able to talk that devotedly about his lover, at the same time give you so short and sharp answers about almost any other topic.
But going back to the present day, when Lyra snapped out of her thoughts and went with her friend to the table where their other Friends were, Elrick was still there... Without knowing what to think.
His Sister had a secret lover!? When!? How!? He had to think fast... He needed to find out Who was the writter of that letter. Elrick knew that even if it was a time of changes, there were things that always stayed the same... One of those things, the way a woman was treated.
If the rumours of his Sister having a secret affair became known... Their father whould probably send her to a convent, and even if that wasn't the case, the high society whould ruin her. She could be treaten as a promiscuous woman, and that could Made hard for her to get married...
Sure, that whouldn't be the case if that 'Lord-You-Know-Who' married her and then She became the new Lady-You-Know-Who, but Elrick didn't thought that was a probable case... Why whould is a secret romance? His father was desperate to find a husband that Eleanora accepted... Elrick was Pretty sure that the Duke whould permit a marriage with any man from a noble family that Eleanora bringed to them... The only explination that he could find was that Lord-You-Know-Who were somehow unable to marry his Sister...
Wait, then his Sister was in an affair with a married man!? No... El' wasn't like that... But... If the name You-Know-Who was from abroad... That man could be married and his Sister whouldn't know!! ... No... That was too novel-like... Then... Lord-You-Know-Who could be somebody from the church with a castity vote!?
It didn't matter the scenario that Elrick imaginated... All of them were Bad at his eyes...
There was only one option then... For the sake of The well-being of his Sister, and maybe their family in the worst scenario... He had to find out who was that 'Lord-You-Know-Who' and put an end to that romance of his Sister before it became a public subject...
But, Eleanora whould never told that to him... His Sister was rebelious since always... So... Should he ask to Lyra Grimfall? No... She was too loyal to his sister... Then... What should he do?