Chapter 76

𝕾𝖔𝖓𝖌 𝖙𝖔 𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖓 𝖙𝖔: 𝕵𝖚𝖒𝖕 𝕿𝖍𝖊𝖓 𝕱𝖆𝖑𝖑 𝖇𝖞 𝕿𝖆𝖞𝖑𝖔𝖗 𝕾𝖜𝖎𝖋𝖙

***

The veil of my past continued to be lifted, the surety of the present was like a leaf swayed by the dancing breezes, and the guarantee felt like water that wasn't able to fill half of the cup. When the whispers of the past came descending from the abyss of where I was, the mists from the present came scattering through the front sight.

The light that came through the walls, and built its way to hit my skin was enough to make my chest shiver when the conundrum made my eyes like pieces of puzzles, my hand started to engulf my sight in this grayish hue when the sun was already too blinding.

"Is that what you wanted, Lady Vestia?" A voice that I'd just heard last night, was enough to make the warm water from my tea rippled, distorting my reflection.

As I managed to put the tea on my table and looked to where the voice was, I could see a very familiar cloak of the night, having his arms crossed over with his feet doing the same thing.

The corners of my lips began to curl up and that's when I knew the individual's silhouette moved like a second within the blink of an eye.

"You're just someone I couldn't even manage to say no to, Milady, so here are the papers," he said handing me a brown envelope.

"Was this the information coming from that time?" I asked

"Yes, and it must have been three decades that passed, other than that, didn't you have anything to do with the clinic today, Lady Vestia?"

"Yes, I do, but I've always entrusted Lady Grenda within"

"Lady Grenda? You mean the daughter of Count Denteil Henderson, right?"

"Key, have you had any memory loss for the past few days?" I asked since I'd already said those words to him before.

"No, I just have to confirm again because it seemed that Count Denteil was involved in that experiment a few decades ago"

"Involved? How come? Don't you know that the Count had been helpful within the empire?"

"Yes, he is but that doesn't mean that every people that were helpful doesn't have any secrets that are much darker than the night"

"What do you mean by that?"

***

"Lady Agnes, are you all right?" Her voice which sounded like a soft fabric descending on my skin was enough to make my eyes blink, it was enough to see the light from the vagueness of the world, or from the abyss that is circulating within our deepest desires.

When I landed my sight on her fair skin and high cheekbone with her puffy red lips, I knew that I couldn't even deny the magnificence that she had on me, even though her clothes weren't like the usual ones she would wear within her household.

I was grateful for the Count to have given me Lady Grenda in my clinic but that night, I felt as if my chest was heavier, when Key said something I shouldn't have heard.

The only reason for me to seek something from the Henderson household was the truth and I hoped that Grenda would forgive me for meddling in them because if I didn't my mind wouldn't let me sleep in the night.

"I'm fine Lady Grenda, so as you were saying?" I said while accompanying myself with a warm tea that she managed to serve on the table. Whenever I go within the clinic, I would help the people out, and some of the workers, even the two ones I've managed to be close with as well as Lady Grenda, and she would always serve me tea whenever it's rest time.

Right now, the tea was still warm, but then when I looked at her, she wasn't looking at me but also at the tea with her eyes becoming shinier than usual.

"Lady Agnes, do you believe in love at first sight?" I felt as if my throat went dry, and my eyes widened. I couldn't help but stop these hands from shaking under the table, and I can't let her know what I've experienced in the past.

But then, I also don't want to fade that tiny flame of hope she had, and yet, I also don't want her to start being delusional about that light, that what if something were to happen to her because she couldn't get away from it even if she wanted to?

I don't want her to experience the same kind of experiences I had in the past, but then I also don't want to limit what she wants to do with her life, since if she always stays in this small corner, when will she ever grow to spring like a rose?

"Lady Agnes?" My thoughts came to a halt when I managed to look at Lady Grenda. Her eyes were already looking into my soul and yet, those lights didn't fade, but her eyebrows started to knit.

She then leaned over to look me in the eyes and she probably wouldn't see how my eyebrows started rising but I knew from the moment her silhouette invaded mine that her hands, soft and gentle as the first descent of the sun's rays came in contact with my forehead.

Then I could only hear him sigh the moment she removed that warmth from mine to intertwine both of her hands.

"I'm glad that you're fine, Lady Agnes..." she said and I chuckled.

"Of course, Lady Grenda but still, I'm grateful for being concerned about me all the time"

"That's because I couldn't help but worry about my friends all the time. Since we're already one, right Lady Agnes?" her voice was as sweet as a honey bathed with warm water even if I wanted to be like her, I knew that I couldn't not when I began liking her as precious as my other friends.

"I've always considered you as my friend, Lady Grenda but if you truly wanted to know me more then I guess you have to do me a favor"

"Favor?"

"Yes a favor and I hope that you would likely do it"

"What was it then, Lady Agnes?"

But I never talked to her those words, since claimed her soft hands and put her pinky finger across from mine. That's when I looked at her eyes and curled my lips up.

"When the time comes that I reveal my own identity, please stay the way you are, Lady Grenda," I could see how her shining eyes widened as if she was making me influence with those mystical orbs she had that she might never even have known had already an effect on me.

"Do you promise that, Lady Grenda?" but instead, I saw her nod with a smile and immediately hugged me.

"I promise Lady Agnes, I will never break my promise to you even if it makes me feel ashamed"

"Silly, I would never let you feel like that, and I will never let any of my friends be ashamed of those things," when I said those words, I gently caressed her hair which felt like the fresh morning in the middle of the spring season.

Her scent was captivating but it was enough to reassure me that she's a trustworthy friend of mine.

"So I guess it's my turn to know your answer to my question already, Lady Agnes," Lady Grenda said enough to make me open the gap between my lips.

But because she reminded me of a hopeful spring, I knew that even flowers wither in the winter, there's always a new beginning so I would never let myself be compared to her on my old one, the one that never got away.

"I think that love exists in different kinds of forms, Lady Grenda," I paused, as I tried to remember what Anna had told me when I asked her the same thing, or that because love was related to pain.

"Love can never be fully understood, because love takes in the form of a love to a friend, a love to a family member, a love to the people within the empire, a love to oneself, and a love to be called romantic. Now, I know you wanted to know the love that blooms on the romantic side, right?" I asked and as I saw her eyes widen, I also saw her nod with the edges of her lips curled up.

"Loving someone romantically can always be on different levels, as you've said earlier, it can be love at first sight, then sometimes, love also takes time to be learned that someone loves that person because of his or her looks, or that she or he stayed there through the person's darkness in life," I paused as I looked at how tight her hands grip on mine and the edges of my lips mimic the way she smiled.

Then I remembered what I'd said to Caliere about it.

"But most of all, loving someone seems very illogical in some way," then just like how the Caliere asked me, Lady Grenda did the same thing

"Illogical? How Lady Agnes?"

I looked into her soul and I could see how the trees shone in them giving me fresh air to breathe.

"Because when you love someone, you don't need any reasons to. If someone had a reason to love, then if that reason faded over time, would that person also fall out of love with the other person?" My answer to her question seemed to be like a question in itself but the moment I felt her warmth was already the time I knew she must have understood everything.

"I'm grateful to have met a person like you, Lady Agnes and that is for without any reason," I chuckled because it was as if we were just fated to be friends in this lifetime, a time where I could seek a new beginning.

"Same as me as well, Lady Grenda," I'm grateful to have met you in this second life that I've been given.

Time flew fast and right now, after leaving the clinic, instead of coming back to my household to do some medicinal potions, my feet felt like had a mind of their own because the moment my eyes landed on a very special place, I sprinkled the magic I've set myself to disguise instead of drinking potions.

But I never thought that by doing so, after a few minutes of walking by, on the South Lake, I would hear a very familiar voice.

"Vestia?"