Chapter 24

Time passed, and in another two weeks, the banquet would be held. Aretha devoted most of her time preparing for the banquet, however, sometimes, she would spent time with her siblings as well. Although the time she had meal with Vladimir were reduced, she never failed to be with him at night. Her days went on with the same routine, until one day, someone stormed into Vladimir's office. Another lady, apparently.

Aretha stumbled upon the lady on her way to Vladimir's study. She bowed to the lady. "Such a pretty lady wasted on a man like him. That Vladimir, what was he thinking, after all," the lady muttered.

The lady in front of her was different from the previous women she had seen. From the vibe to their overall look. Her black hair tied in a single ponytail, her yellow eyes shine fiercely as the burning sun, her catlike upturned eyes reflected she who were smaller in height. Her shoulder were broad, not in the sense of muscle, but in a sense of her bold atmosphere. She held her head high, unlike the other ladies who keep their eyes on the ground. Her posture were straight, unlike the humble and hunched ladies. "You must be Ella. I had heard quite a few little things about you," she said, with her thin red lips.

"My Lady were—"

"Ah! If you ever heard of the bold and capricious Young Lady Adad, that was I," the lady said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Indeed, rumor could do no justice. My Lady was much more of a beauty than I could imagine. How truthful can a rumor be when it came from the mouth of those who seen less and were a chatterbox?"

The lady laughed. "I like you, sincerely from my heart. Please, just call me Minerva, for I wished to befriend with you."

"That would be presumptuous of me, would it not?"

"Of course not! It was my wishes for you to do so."

"Then, Lady Minerva?"

"Well, I would love it if you just called out my name, but I will settled for that."

"If I had known that My Lady was such outgoing person, I would had sent a letter for you earlier."

"It was never too late. I, too had taken quite a liking on you. If you ever host a gathering, make sure you never forget to invite me."

"That would be my pleasure, My Lady."

"Oh, right! Had the three little mice gave you any trouble yet?"

"Pardon?"

"If there were three little mice, suddenly came to make mischief, do asked for my help. I would be more than glad to help my friend."

"Please do not worry. If it was just three little mice, then, it would be nothing for me."

"I like your confidence. I would let out another secret. There was a sneaky little bird that had been chirping all around tree, oh, but given that look on your eyes, it seem you had already knew about it."

"If I may said, the little bird was quite cute. Perhaps because it had never went out of it cage, it got excited and fled around recklessly."

Minerva laugh. "Oh dear my… I wished I could talk more with you, however, I only came today to end some agreement with that person. Ella, do accept my invitation when my letter arrived."

"That would be my pleasure, Lady Minerva." Aretha bowed. The two separated with a big smile and pleasant heart. Aretha stared at the back of the other lady as she walked away. She walk in a big and bold stride, unlike the tip toeing ladies. She greeted the servants with a big smile unlike the pretentious smile of the noble lady. Lady Minerva was truly different, she thought. Aretha went to Vladimir office. She knocked on the door.

"Come in," he said.

"Lord Vladimir."

"Was there anything you need?"

"There was not, My Lord. I came to invite you for a tea. Lev told me you have not taken any break lately."

Vladimir put down the quill and walked closer to her. He sat on the sofa and gestured for her to sit as well. She called the maid, ordering them to bring some desserts and tea.

"I had met with Lady Minerva on my way here just now. She was such a bright lady. My Lord, may I visit her sometime?"

"You may. If Minerva had taken a liking on you, she would without a doubt became a strong backer for you."

"I was surprise at first, when Lady Minerva spoke to me."

"Why would you?"

"For she was your fiancee. I thought, perhaps, my time here had reached it end."

"It was not like that for both of us. Just like how I did not think of anything toward her, she too think nothing toward me. You think too highly of her."

"How could I not. From what I saw, she was a free spirit. True, she was bolder than any women I had seen. However, I believed that was her charms. For she could be true to herself."

"Do you envy her?"

"Envy was a big word. Perhaps a part of me envy her, and the other part were not, for I am grateful for my life. If I were to make a choice as how she would, perhaps, I would not be here today, and perhaps, I would lose the love of my only family that left."

"Do you mean your siblings?"

"Yes. Lord Vladimir, if you had obtained my background information, I am sure you would had known, me and my siblings were not blood related. However, we, the villagers were closed to each other, thus we always treat each other as one family. When we were separated from our fellow villagers, we could only relied on each other."

"It seem to me, they were the one that relied on you."

"That was far from the truth. Perhaps, from outsider perspectives, they could only saw me being depended on. However, what people could not see was, the fact that those children were my solace, my peace. They were the reason I could keep living. I am not a mother, but, I am sure, this was how a mother would felt. I became stronger when the children was by my side."

"For how long do you intended to care for them?"

"For as long as they need me. My Lord, do you know, children grew up really fast. One moment, they were crying when you are far, and in the blink of an eye, they were the one who drifted away going farther that you imagined."

"Would you also drifted away when you had no reason to stay?"

"Lord Vladimir, for as long as my gratitude goes, I shall never ran away from here, unless My Lord said my time here had reached it's end."

"Your time here will never reached it's end."

"We could never knew what would happen in the future."

The two continue their talk until it was time for the meal. Instead of having meal in the dining hall as usual, Vladimir invited her to have the meal in his office, so they could spent more time chatting with each other.

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*Little Theater*

Lev : "My Lady! Please help me!"

Aretha : "Was there anything that need my help at all?"

Lev : "Yes, My Lady! Only you could do this!"

Aretha : "What would that be? I would help as much as I could."

Lev : "My Lady… Please… Please tell My Lord to take some break! He had been working non-stop for week. He would only stopped when it was time for the meal, and when night came. Please! My Lady! I could not stand it anymore! When he work that much, me as his aide could not took any rest! Look at my eyes, here… How terrible the dark line had been!"

Aretha : "Oh… I see…"