Chapter 25

When we joined the party, I realised we might've taken a bit too long. The hallway was suddenly decorated, unlike earlier. Tables were scattered, adorned in frilly tableware. Roses were on everything with a flat surface. Sweets and savouries were topped on tables, arranged beautifully in holders.

But what caught my eye was the dance floor. There were these strange glass shards hanging from the ceiling, beams that gave off so many colours which shot off them like a mirage. I audibly gasped at the sight.

It was… magic.

There were few familiar faces around us, occasionally what looked like a maid from the dukes manor could be seen enjoying a snack much too luxurious to ever be associated with her.

"Bella! Cain!" I heard a familiar voice shout at a high pitch as I caught my sister running rather inelegantly in a beautiful gown. It wasn't the white one, which I guessed she'd be wearing later on when they made vows.

"Angela", I smiled as a feeling of pride began to swell in me. She looked beautiful.

"Mrs Jenkins", Cain teased.

Angela laughed at him and replied playfully, "not until the evening I'm not!"

It was… strange.

The master- Cain stood closer to me to as he asked , "Do we look like how you wanted?" He placed an arm around my shoulder and I tensed at the proximity. The nerves that pulsed through me threatened my balance.

"Exactly. Like a pair of newly weds", I assumed she was very much joking with her smiling eyes, but somehow she looked like she was up to something. Then with the agility of a mischievous cat she pulled me towards her, "Can I kindly borrow my sister for a moment. I'd love to put a bit of colour on her cheeks".

Colour? Like make up? Isn't that expensive?

"Please return her when you're finished", Cain seemed hesitant in his answer. His face even displayed a look of annoyance that I didn't know he could show to Angela.

"We won't be long", she called as she dragged me along with her.

I couldn't find myself speaking at all. Whether it was the talk from the guest room or the strange dreamlike scenery of the wedding. Noble parties were lovely, but I could never attend. Not even as a helping hand, because there was a stigma with slaves attending to large gatherings. It would make a noble house appear as if they don't have respectable employees.

Yet, here I was. At a large gathering and the centre was my own flesh and blood. I could dance. I could eat. I could laugh.

And nobody would say a thing…

But, despite it all… I was scared that a single breath of this would make me addicted. I found myself recalling a maid with whom I was close with until she started sniffing a strange powder. I thought it was flour or some sort of food substance, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

It was the day I came across her in tattered clothes, her body a visible wreck and tears streaming down her face as she was dragged out of the mansion. I covered my eyes to what they did to her. Everyone did. But that didn't mean I could forget it.

Could i… become that? Would I become that?

"- Ella? Bella!"

Angela's voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I found myself back in the present. I didn't know I had zoned out so much that we were now near the gardens.

"Oh sorry. I spaced out there", I apologised to her.

"That's not like you at all! You're usually always aware of your surroundings", I didn't realise she had noticed that about me.

"I usually am, but somehow I feel safe enough to space out here", I mused as we came to view of the flowers in bloom.

"I'm glad that's the case", Angela sighed in relief as she laced her arm around mine and began leading me to a small shed around the house. Somehow it seemed more luxurious than the mansion with how it was surrounded in blooming flowers and the roses that were caught in vines on the wall.

"What is this?" I asked while she eagerly opened the door to a quaint room. It was designed almost like a chunk of a nobles room. It had a table and chairs usually made for tea time and in the corner a cute dressing table.

"Isn't it lovely!", Angela exclaimed as she pulled me in, "I had to make it a secret of mine and I have been dying to show it to you!"

"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." I hummed with a smile. I was mostly pleased in Angela's happiness. Her smile made me feel so much more at ease that I sat in the plush chair without a thought.

"I knew you'd love it", she spoke in a much more melancholic tone as she reached for what looked like a jewellery box and placed it onto the table. I couldn't help but notice her guilt.

"Hey now… what's with that frown? This is your wedding day, you should be having a grand time!" I declared enthusiastically, but she only gave me a look that said she really couldn't be.

She began applying a lotion to my face silently and I knew she needed silence before she could explain. Time passed as she placed a strange fluffy pad on my cheeks and patted it in. Then she drew on my lips and finally she applied some strange dark stuff to my eyes.

I might've retorted had it not been for the fact she was in near tears during the whole thing.

When she was done she placed her pencils and pots away, and finally she turned to me. Her lips shaking in the way that indicated that she was ready to talk.

"I swear I'll free you".

I blinked a few times in a very ignorant manner before I registered what she said. Was this what bothered her?

"You- You don't have to worry about that! And don't act like it's your fault! I'm more at fault than you for agreeing blindly to him!" I reassured her. My hands reached for her shoulders, squeezing them in assurance.

"You wouldn't have agreed if I wasn't so useless", I could tell the waterworks were on their way, but she could afford it. Not on her wedding day.

"That's not true!", I scolded her, "you know what I truly want is for you to be happy. I don't care if that means compromising my own"-

"-Thats why it's not fair!", she huffed at me. Her face became redder and her voice raising higher as she continued, "Mother forced you to stay quiet all the time and she told you to worry more about me than your own self! Doesn't that seem strange or unfair to you? Don't you deserve someone to do that for you too? Why is it only me who gets to be happy?"

I was stunned at her words.

Had this always bothered her?

"Angela… you shouldn't worry about silly things like that. Mother said those things for a reason. And now that you are in a good place don't make yourself unhappy over me. We all wish the best for you because we love you, not because of some old promises", I wrapped my arms around her tightly. She really has grown up.

We stayed like that for a while before she finally stopped sniffling, "we should get back before Alex starts to worry", i noticed how her mood changed at the mentioning of her soon to be husband.

"You really like him , huh?" I couldn't help but tease her as we walked back.

"Of course I do! I hope you find someone who you like just as much".

I wanted to tell her I had. But the thought of Justin made me feel so happy and light headed I couldn't promise not spilling everything and potentially putting him in danger if it ever met Cains ears.

"Is that so?" I hummed.

"Yes, but not someone you just depend on someone you truly love".

I frowned at her words. Wondering what that meant.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well… from my experience, there are times when you're in love and there are times when you think you're in love", her words made no sense to me.

"I don't understand…"

"Of course you don't! You've never paid a second glance to men, but do keep that in mind because the latter isn't a nice relationship. It can become quite toxic", she seemed to grimace as if she recalled a bad memory.

I laughed her words off as silly advice from a nervous bride, but they didn't fail to haunt me in my coming trials.