Unexpected Visitors

After another two weeks, on a usual morning at the mansion at Hulia, the residents were about to leave the table after finishing breakfast. As always, the young lady was eagerly waiting to leave her father. Fortunately, she was safe that her father did not know about her secret adventure when he was not at home.

Lord Fearyan stood up to leave the room and at that very moment, a servant came and announced the arrival of visitors for lord Fearyan and lady Elindella. They had introduced themselves as prince Diyath, lord Soolen, sir Kylam and sir Rosnor. After hearing the name 'prince Diyath', Fearyan seemed more interested and the servant was told to take them to the visiting room.

Everyone who had common knowledge at that time, knew the person the moment they heard the name 'prince Diyath'. He was the heir to the throne in the Sothern kingdom after his father, king Haolmar. And not to mention that price Diyath was the nephew of Elindella as Haolmar was Elindella's oldest brother. As for Diyath, he never mentioned his name in front of anyone during his travels because he did not want any special attention from anyone. He just wanted to be treated as one of the ordinary travelers who traveled along with friends.

While the announcement about the visitors, Elindella seemed more surprised after hearing the name 'lord Soolen' than hearing her own nephew's name. The only one who was calm was Vianelle as she never had any visitors and did not want to interact with anyone who came to visit her father or mother. Therefore, this announcement did not bother her a single bit and was getting up to leave the table.

Suddenly, Elindella said, "Vianelle, come with me to greet the visitors". Vianelle was beyond surprised to hear these words and went completely pale. She could not refuse her mother's word but she did not want to see them either. She had not seen any visitors for as long as she remembered and she was afraid to interact with any of the strangers. She was comfortable only with the people that she saw every day except her father who scared her every single time.

She asked with a broken tone, "but mother… Can I stay here…please..?" "No, you should come with me," said Elindella, already leaving the room. Vianelle had no choice but to follow her mother, although her fingers were trembling with nervousness.

Fearyan had already welcomed the visitors and was talking with them loudly in excitement when the ladies entered the room. At the very moment they appeared, two things happened very fast just in less than a second.

Diyath felt a sudden stroke passing down his spine seeing the young lady that stole his heart entering the room. For a second, he was frozen and he did not hear what Fearyan was saying, his eyes were glued to the mesmerizing figure, and the scene of her walking out of the water reappeared in front of his eyes. Although her light blue dress covered her from neck to the toes, the keen observer here, witnessed her bare shoulders and the beautiful curves once he saw, through his mind again. It was a pity that he could not see her beautiful eyes as those were fixed on her toes and her skin was extra pale due to nervousness. He barely remembered him bowing in response to introducing the two ladies by Fearyan. Anyone was not paying attention to Diyath unless someone could have seen his cheeks and ears become red and his fingers shiver with a strange feeling he had never experienced before.

The other one who was shocked was Elindella. While entering the room, she saw the blue eyes, once she had fallen in love with when she was eighteen years old. Although it had been forever since she last saw those, she could never forget them as they had been imprinted in her mind. She felt as if her feet were fixed onto the floor and her whole body was stiff that she could not move. Her self-control which she practiced for decades came for support right in time. She never let her feelings control her and here, as usual, she managed to behave as if nothing was odd and greeted the young gentlemen properly.

She knew Soolen was Emygor's son but she did not expect this much resemblance from him to his father. Emygor was the son of a good friend of Elindella's father and they grew up together since they were young. They had never said the word love to each other even once in their lives but, they both knew they loved each other deeply. They also knew very well that they would not be able to be together in this life as Elindella was proposed to Fearyan, the eldest son of king Elthorn since they were very young.

Even though Elindella managed to act strong at this moment, her inner self was shattered with memories that belonged to a time that was buried long ago. She remembered the moment when she bid farewell to the man, she loved to get married to another man she did not even know. Neither of them cried nor spoke, she felt his lamenting heart and deep sighs while she was resting her head on his chest for the one last time. He pressed his trembling lips on her forehead kissing her goodbyes, she closed her eyes and felt the soft touch of his lips from the bottom of her soul for the entire lifetime that is left. While in his warm embrace, Elindella thought to herself that if she would ever have a child, she would let him marry a child of Emygor if the conditions permit. That was the only possible way she could think of to respect his unconditional love.

That was the last time they saw each other and the next day, she got married to Fearyan and went to the North. Elindella promised herself that she should be a faithful wife and tried her best to stop thinking of her beloved Emygor. She tried to suppress the feelings that tore her into pieces and shorten the long lonely nights that she spent crying. After a long time of internal struggle, she managed to wrap her memories tightly and lock them up in a faraway corner of her broken heart. Eventually, she learned not to let her feelings control her and look at everything with equanimity. As a result, she used to accept everything that came to her without complaining and became very calm. It did not make her sad, but not happy either. This way of thinking helped her to take the best decision in difficult situations and that made her strong.

When she was looking for someone suitable for Vianelle, she came to know that Emygor had a son around the same age as Vianelle. She also found out that his name was Sooolen and had a good character. She did not see any wrong in pairing these two together as Vianelle also was a young lady with no flaws in her character. In addition, although refused by the royal families any matrimony, she was still a member of the royal family of the Northern kingdom. Elindella only sent a messenger to Emygor with the proposal and the messenger had not returned yet with his answer. She knew that Emygor would not oppose this proposal unless Soolen had a lover. As for Soolen, he did not know anything about this proposal as he left home before the messenger reached there.

Let's leave the background story and go back to the incident happening there, the interaction between the visitors and the residents. Finally, Diyath found his voice to speak amidst the excitement that caused blood to rush through veins all over his body. "We apologize for our unexpected visit. We were riding North and heard on the way that you live in Hulia.", he said trying to ignore his burning ears and butterflies in his chest. And then he stepped forward to greet his aunt whom he met for the first time in his life. Although he had never seen her before, he had heard about her good character from his family. There were many times that he felt sorry for his aunt for happening to get married to someone like Fearyan.

The conversation between those two, the aunt and the nephew was heartwarming. "It's nice to see you. You've grown up already", said Elindella holding both of his hands in hers. Diyath answered with a beautiful smile, "I too am very pleased to see you. I've only heard good of you. My father and grandfather said how beautiful you were. Now I see you and those were indeed true!".

"Oh, now I'm just an old woman. By the way, how is your father?" She asked while giving him the sincerest smile that appeared on her face after a long time. She loved her father and her eldest brother the most and seeing his son made her happy, an emotion that she had forgotten long ago.

"Ah, he is doing well. He is always busy scolding me and does all the other work during the rest of the time." Diyath said with a slight grin and they both laughed together. They seemed to get along well together and enjoyed each other's company. Also, they both looked alike to the extent that someone who did now know them might have mistaken them as mother and son.

Vianelle remained silent all the time and all the others seemed to have forgotten that she was there except one single person who stole glances at her in every possible second.

Fearyan was talking nonstop with the rest of the young men about their trip and whatnot. He brought up the topic of hunting and the three visitors also seemed very enthusiastic about the topic. "There's a nice place for hunting nearby. If you would like to stay here for another day, please accept my invitation for all of you to go hunting.", said Fearyan intending to make acquaintances with these young men with the secret motive of asking for support later, with their abilities and power. Kylam and Rosnor were delighted with the idea of hunting while Soolen remained indifferent as he did not enjoy hunting much but he thought that he could use the day for resting after a long time of continuous riding.

Hearing the invitation, all three of them looked at Diyath who was still talking with Elindella to know if he wanted to stay. Although he was enjoying the conversation with his aunt, he heard the invitation from Fearyan. Diyath did not like hunting at all but he had fair enough reasons to stay there for another day. He would be able to get to know Vianelle as well as would spend time with his aunt. On the other hand, he would be in trouble if his father came to know about his visit here but on second thought, he would not be furious as he loved his sister, Elindella very much. And Diyath knew that his friends who were accompanying him throughout the trip were exhausted and in need of a good sleep and a proper meal and also, he knew they liked hunting very much. Considering all the things, he thought it was not wrong to stay an extra day at his aunt's hospitality.

Diyath said, "Thank you very much for the invitation. We are pleased to stay for hunting" looking at the faces of the other three young men that were lightened after hearing Diyath's words. All the people in the room seemed happy with the idea of staying there for a day except for Vianelle who did not like visitors at all.

Interacting with strangers was a nightmare for her and she was praying silently to end this moment as soon as possible. Strangely, she had had the instinct of someone's keen eyes staring at her since the time she entered the room. At the last moment, before the visitors were taken for treats, she raised her eyes and looked in the direction where the stare was coming from. She saw the sharp sparkling eyes and the golden curls that fell on the forehead covering the eyebrows. Suddenly she took away her gaze as his sharp features and domineering aura scared her to the core. Those eyes struck her like a lightning stroke and she thought that she would see them even in her dreams. The second when their eyes met was the sweetest moment for the one at the other end and he could not help but burn happily with the fire it caused inside him. If anyone saw his broad smile and unfocussed gaze as if he was high, when they were walking through the passage, they might have thought he had gone insane.