The pendant.
To her, his words didn't make any sense.
His brother had died while saving his life? she couldn't say that sounded anything like her brother.
Yes her brother could be regarded as nice most of the time but he wasn't the type to lunge into a fight without first properly evaluating the odds of survival. He was more logical than emotional plus he had made a promise to her that he was coming back and he wasn't the type to make promises that he couldn't keep.
Occupied with the thoughts on her mind she failed to hear the voice of a fellow who had been trying to gain her attention.
"My lady."
"My lady."
"My lady."
The fellow only succeeds at grabbing her attention on the third attempt.
Genevieve gazed upwards towards the fellow in front of her.
He was the person responsible for her brother's death.
She didn't know how to react at the moment, there were still just too many unanswered questions. If her brother had died saving him, wouldn't it be logical to become mad at him?
if she decided to throw a tantrum while raining curses at him wouldn't it all be justified? The emotional part of her made her believe it was only right for her to be angry but the logical part protested against it.
If she did decide to get mad at him and throw a tantrum exposing her rage and pain would that bring her brother back to her? would that change anything? she disputed but then again she wasn't her brother who would always keep a straight face regardless of the situation plus she wasn't sure she wanted to.
Seeing her the way she was, all he wanted to do was look away. The guilt was killing him.
He already knew what it was like to lose a loved one to death, it did get better over time but the pain could never go away because there would always be a void that had been left by that person and it could never be filled by another.
He was the reason for the younger soldiers' death, perhaps he shouldn't have come, he didn't have the right to be there but he had a duty, he needed to honor a comrade and s friend, he had made a promise he would fulfill it.
Genevive opened her eye only to see a familiar item in his hand.
"He wanted me to give this to you." Atlas stretched out his hand with the pendant in it.
She took it from him, this was a gift she gave to her brother before he had left for the military, it had a locket with a picture of their family in it. She gave him the gift so he wouldn't feel alone and would always remember he had someone waiting for him. A tear threatens to fall from her eye but she blinked a few times pushing her emotions to the side, she didn't want to be vulnerable in front of a stranger.
"My lady," Atlas called, gaining Genevieve's attention."He wanted you to know you were the most important person in his life but he didn't want you to wait for me."
Listening to the stranger's words she had to agree that it sounded like something her brother would say.
She could still remember his words vividly
'Eve, we might not always be together that is why I want you to promise me that you would live for yourself.
Her brother was indeed different, there were so many things she didn't understand about him because of all the secrets he kept away from her but there was one indisputable truth and it fact that he loved her dearly.
"My lady."
"My lady, where are you?"
Genevieve heard someone calling her from a distance. She recognized the voice, it was her assistant Victoria.
She turned around and noticed the shadows of two figures approaching her from behind and when they stepped into the light it only confirmed her suspicion.
It indeed was her assistant Victoria and her handmaid Kimberly.
"We finally found you, my lady."
Had they been looking for her she wondered.
"My lady we were so scared when we noticed you weren't in your room" Victoria paused for a moment and looked around."But what would the lady be doing here alone in the garden?"
Genevive turned around to gaze at the spot the soldier had been standing before but he wasn't there.
Where was he? she wondered, he had just been standing a few meters behind her some minutes ago and now he had disappeared without a trance. She decided not to give much thought to it.
Victoria and Kimberly could only gaze at their Mistress with worried expressions.
*Oh the poor Miss, she must be going through a lot, all this is just too much for her*Kimberly thought inwardly.
"""""""''''''''''
Genevieve flipped her eyelids open when she heard a knock on the door to her room. Truthfully she had already been awake for some time now.
She heard the knock again but she remained silent, lifelessly gazing upwards.
" Miss, please may we come in?" Kimberly asked in a worried voice with many different thoughts running through her mind.
Why wasn't her Mistress saying anything? What if something had happened to her? What would she do? Should they just open the door without their mistress's consent?
Kimberly unknowingly bit her finger with concern evident on her face.
Victorian noticed the worried expression on Kimberly's face, though she was worried for their Mistress as well but on the other hand, she knew her mistress wasn't one to be irrational.
Their Mistress had dismissed them the previous night after they had escorted her to her room. Her Mistress had looked so lifeless, after the death of their mistress's mother they thought that with time things would get better, and things did get better because of the young master's presence but now that the young master is dead, what would become of their Mistress.
Genevieve didn't give a reply to Kimberly's request, all she wanted at the moment was her solitude, if only they could give her that.
She took a deep breath after which she stepped out of her bed and walked toward the window that she had unlocked at some point the previous night as she hardly slept the night before.
"Come in." Came her dull and expressionless voice.
Glad they had finally gained a response from their Mistress they entered the room.
"Good morning my lady." They greeted in unison.
She didn't give a reply or wait for them to give the information they were there to pass on as he asked still with her back facing them." When would the duke be leaving?"
"This evening my lady," Victoria replied with lowered gaze although knowing her mistress's back was facing them.
"The head maid informed me that there wouldn't be a family breakfast again because of the Lord's absence...." Victoria paused for a moment with some words stuck in her throat.
As if reading Victoria's mind, Genevive commented"I won't be having breakfast today, I don't have the appetite."
Of course, she already knew her Mistress wouldn't have the desire to eat anything her actions were understandable but that couldn't stop her from worrying about the young lady's health, her mistress was never one to eat much, and not eating at all could be threatening to her health.
"Prepare my bathe I would like to speak to my father," Genevieve ordered.
Her father and the soldiers would be departing tonight with her brother's body when the priest arrives. If there was a possibility that she could attend the ritual then she would take it.
After the blessing of the priest, her brother's body would be taken to the temple in the capital for the completion of the ritual and after that, he would be laid to rest.
She was the closest person to her brother, so it was only right that she attended the ritual, her father might refuse but it was better she made an effort to go than not go and regret it later.
""""""""""'''''""
On walking toward her father's office she noted how fewer guards along the corridors were on getting closer to the office but she didn't give much thought to it.
When she reached the office, she could her voice probably her father in a discussion with someone she thought, she stood in front of the door and instantly recognized the other fellow's voice.
.
"Sir Alexander" she mumbled.
She turned around to walk away as she wasn't one to surreptitiously listen to other people's conversations but something made her stop on her track.
It was a statement from her father.