13

"Huh ?"

I felt so stupid .

Dear Diary , a part of me was worried that my cousin might have fried my brain and fed them to his pet snake along with my lovely toads .

"Proposal ? For marriage ?," I had to ask that.

I mean , I would understand, if the whole town gathered at my feet , offered me a big chunk of money and 'proposed ' a plan to me of moving into a Asylum.

That would make total sense.

"That's some bullshit ," some in the crowd said.

And I agreed with them .

I sighed in relief , knowing there was atleast another sane person in the gathering today.

"You must have not heard it yet , Darling ," Mrs Mayhoff smiled at me awkwardly ," We sent a letter this morning . Dear Grandel , why don't you come and have a conversation with Miss Flores , here . I will be the chaperone but the young ones must connect by themselves."

"If you are not aware , Miss Flores is already on a date with my son , here ," Lady Darwin chewed every word ,"Besides , Flores should allow it firsthand for the date to happen ."

" How kind of you to be worried about that !," Mrs. Mayhoff pulled out a small piece of paper from her purse ," We sent words to the Capital and an answer was sent by Telegram , already. I was just on my way to fetch Miss Flores from her house but how fortunate of us to have met her on the road, but I must admit , if not for so many knights , I could have never spot Miss Flores by myself !"

The paper was passed from one hand to another and finally settled in mine , it ready only four letters -

" If Anne Allows it"

Hold on now , I know that my family is very busy with my sister's wedding but they could have spared a little more time to decide this .

"If Miss Flores desires , she would officially be the fiance of Grandel Mayhoff and they would be married the next month ," Mrs. Mayhoff turned around and call in an excited voice ," Grandel , what are you doing , come out right now , greet you soon to be wife ."

Everything was going too fast.

Soon there was this boy breaking out of the gathered knights around us , he was wearing mahogany colored suits that was complementing his brown hair , white trousers and a golden tie . He seemed oddly familiar but a stranger at the same time .

When he smiled at me , it radiated pain on his eyes , instead of excitement. That made my stomach turn for some reason and I took a step back.

"Careful ," he grabbed my arm as if it was a very natural thing for him to do ," There is a stone and you might have tripped , silly ."

"Gratel ," I finally recognised him for his voice .

"Took you long enough ," he tried to give me another smile ," Do I look that much horrible now ?"

It was as if the sound had disappeared from the world,

I remember what Gratel had told me in the morning.

"It's, just - my father wants a middle ground ."

"My Lady , do you mind ?," Gratel helped me stand straight ," I assume you want a long conversation."

Dear Diary , I was nauseous.

We had to head back home after that.

And I was afraid that it was not because the sky had gotten a lot darker that before .

Nobody was really caring about the rain.

I had to seat at the kitchen table with Gratel and Raphael Darwin , so the maid could keep an eye on us as a chaperone while our family discussed the matter in the dining room .

I peaked through the door to see aunt had returned .

There was also the mayor and his wife .

I could pick part of their conversation about how the Mayhoffs have always thought that I was in madly love with their son and they had always considered me as a part of their family in the future .

No wonder , I was always allowed in the premesise of their house .

"Hey ," Gratel whisphered at my direction," It is going to be fine ."

Nothing was fine . I wanted to ask him a million questions but all I could say was ,"What are you wearing ?"

Gratel looked so uncomfortable as if it was the first time he was wearing a suit . His soft shoulder blades looked unflattering under the brown suit , he kept tugging on his tie as if it was trying to choke him on purpose .

"I had to , I could not possibly come -"

Raphel cleared his throat loudly ," Would you two mind shutting up ,I have to submit this paper by tomorrow ."

He was still working even in this situation. But then it was just MY life that was thrown into a storm like this , not his .

Considering how cold blooded he was , this might be something no more than a nuisance to him .

" Look ," Gratel bent down on the table to avoid glare from the kitchen maid ," You have got nothing to worry about , I already had a discussion with my parents and everything is going to be perfect from now now ."

"Don't lie to yourself," I got up from the table , I could not see him like this .

"Anne ," he grabbed my hand ," I promise ."

I heard people gasp together .

The first thing I noticed was my aunt's surprised face , I turned around to see Gratel kneeling on the floor .

With his other hand ,he brought out a small box which had a diamond ring shimmering inside .

This was happening.

With horror , I heard my childhood best friend utter the word I had never thought I would hear him say to me ,"Will you marry me ?"

I knew that it would end if I would reach out to him and say 'Yes'

I would no longer have to bear Raphael Darwin , nor any humaliation from his household .

I could have just closed my chapter then and there .

"No ," I forced myself to say it , but it was barely audible , I realised that I needed to scream it out louder for everyone present there to hear ,"NO !"

And I ran out of the backdoor , hoping I could disappear in the forest at our backyard .