The First Wall III

The sun has started to set and the two ladies had gone back to the estate as the night can be dangerous. And Serena was delighted to have found a new friend who she can finally talk freely with.

Laura who thought that Serena would be calm and quiet was actually talkative. She never thought that they would become great friends and that they were had many similarities.

Serena also tends to be a girl who smiles a lot and if the other boys had seen her smile, they would have fallen in love with her instantly.

Laura went to escort Serena to her carriage and on the way, Serena had asked Laura to come to their shop sometime. Laura never expected Serena to invite her to a well-known tailor shop. She gladly accepted it and gave Serena a hug.

Serene never felt any happier than today. Her maid Gilda had noticed Serena smiling and had a thought that something big had happened. She was truly happy to see her lady smile.

"You seem to have enjoyed today. Was it because of Lady Tine?"

"It's not because of her."

"Then who? Don't tell me it's the new lady who was adopted."

"Gilda I can't believe I met someone who I can trust now."

Gilda smiled once more upon seeing her lady having enjoyed today. She had become grateful towards Laura who had made her smile. She could now finally worry less about Serena's future.

"If you say so."

Tine's eyes followed the two as she saw Serena giving Larua a hug. She felt annoyed and bit her nails. She couldn't believe Serena betrayed her despite all the things she had done for her. Helga entered Tine's room, and it was a mess.

The new set of flowers she had picked up was being destroyed as Tine plucked the petals one by one. Helga quietly moved towards Tine and cleaned the floor.

"Would you like some tea to calm down?"

Tine quietly looked out the window all of a sudden she started trying to pulling her hair off. Helga quickly went to stop Tine but was pushed away. Tine murmured words Helga couldn't hear and Helga calmly told her to stop what she was doing.

"Lady please what if someone enters your room?"

"Leave me alone Helga. GET OUT!"

Tine screamed out loud and threw the flower vase onto the floor. That action caused a piece of the vase shard to scratch Helga's face. Tine hadn't realized what she had done until she saw the wound on her face.

She quickly regained her composure and ran towards Helga apologizing profusely while crying out loud.

"I'm alright Lady Tine. It's just a scratch."

"No, no, no no! I'm sorry, Helga. I'm sorry."

"You do not need to apologize. It's just a small scratch and it won't hurt me. Are you hurt?"

"I'm alright you should tend your wound now. It might get infected."

"Please have some rest. I'll be back."

While picking up the broken shards on the floor Helga couldn't help but feel sorry for her lady. She couldn't protect or help her at all. Helga had always treated Tine as her own child after she had lost her own.

Helga has never expected Tine to turn to someone like this. She was startled after seeing a face Tine had never shown before for the first time and she became worried for her health at the same time.

For Helga deep inside, she has already seen Laura as an enemy. Tine sat on the couch as Helga had left the room. The name 'Laura' had tasted bitter in her mouth and she couldn't stand seeing her face either.

She tied her hair up and laughed out loud. She had ever felt this way before, as her heart was filled with hatred towards the girl. Her face turned into a frown as she couldn't think of a way for her to fight against Laura.

And suddenly a solution had popped in her head and her mouth had formed into a small but noticeable smirk.

'Be prepared Laura.'

=====

Laura went back to her room and quickly called Lester to arrange a carriage for tomorrow. She then removed her heels as it felt uncomfortable wearing it. It must be because her foot wasn't used to wear heels.

She slowly walked to her desk barefooted and got her journal out of the drawer. She looked at her journal and suddenly remembered Tiyne. Everything Tiyne had said was coming true and so she needed to keep her promise.

The problem now for Laura was her black hair. She wondered if she needed to dye it because she didn't want to stand out. She opened her journal and was about to write about her week but it was already filled.

Laura still couldn't get used to the journal as it was writing the future for her. She couldn't understand why and thought that maybe Tiyne had an idea about it. She gently placed her journal back in the drawer and had withdrawn for the day.

The next day, after Laura woke up, she walked to the dining area and saw count Harrison eating alone. It was unusual for Tine to wake up late and be late for breakfast but she probably had her own reasons Laura thought.

Laura sat on her seat and had greeted the count who was busy reading the newspaper and didn't even notice her presence. She quietly ate her food and as she was about to take another bite she noticed that Tine had entered.

"Good morning, father and sister."

"Oh! Good morning Tine and Laura you were the whole time?"

"I was, however, you were busy reading."

"I'm sorry my daughter."

Tine bit her lip and walked towards her seat and sat down. She looked at Laura and she looked happy. Tine asked Laura why she was happy and Laura answered she was going to 'Jaded Tailor', which was the shop Serena's family had owned.

Tine smiled it off and thinks that Serena will regret becoming Laura's friend and didn't even care at all. Count Harrison folded the newspaper and quickly finished his tea before leaving for work.

"Laura make sure to come back home early."

"Yes... father."

Count Harrison patted her head as it was his first time hearing Laura calling him father. Laura, on the other hand, was hesitant to call the count as 'father' because never once did she call him that.

The room was filled with silence once more and Laura didn't mind it all. She didn't care what Tine was thinking and didn't care how she had look at her. Tine laughed softly as she remembered what Viola had told her.

"Is there a problem?"

"No, I just remembered something funny Viola had said."

"What did she say?"

"She said that you were thin and small. As if the orphanage didn't feed you."

"Is that so?"

"I'm glad you are concerned about me."

Laura's hand had stopped moving her mouth formed a smile while looking at Tine. Her smile then formed into a frown and her eyes coldly looked at her. Tine flinched and avoided meeting Laura's eyes.

Once again Tine had stepped on a minefield that had exploded. Laura laughed as she saw the face Tine had made scared, flustered, and agitated.

"What about you? You're as thin as a stick, are you sure the maids have been feeding you?"

"I-I have a fast metabolism and so I can't really do anything about it."

"I hope you learn to think before you speak next time."

Laura stood up wiping her mouth with a napkin and left the dining room. She was unhappy after hearing what Tine had said. She felt disgusted about her and didn't want to see her face anymore.

She entered her room and tried calming herself down but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't. Her chest aches as she remembers what Tine had said and puffed it away and crossed her arms.

Tine had no shame at all. Laura didn't understand why many liked her. Was it because she was pretty? Or was it because she had manipulated them? Laura would never forgive a person who would bash her orphanage.

It would be alright if they had bashed her being an orphan and all However it would be too much if they started talking bad about the place where she experienced and shared so much love. She will never allow anyone to talk badly about the orphanage which is her home and her first family.