Goodbyes

At last, the days of fun-filled vacationing ended, and her aunt, uncle, and cousin were to return to Kinlar, which was the neighboring country to Austrion. But it would still take a few days of travel by carriage. Since the capital of Austrion was far from the border. It was a mostly tearless farewell since everyone knew they were going to meet again sooner or later.

Though the dramatics were definitely raised to an abnormally high amount since both mothers were acting as if their whole house had burned down and their most precious dresses had been burned along with their families. It was tearless for everyone else, but the two. Aileene felt that she should have joined in the fun, but she wasn't extremely good at fake crying. So she opted to watched them, mildly amused.

And when the women were satisfied with their antics, her aunt crushed her in a suffocating hug once again. Before kissing her forehead and waving her goodbye, and she waved back as she stood with her parents, watching her relatives fade away into the distance inside their carriage.

When their carriage was too far away for her to see anymore, Aileene brought her attention back to her hand, opening it, she admired the sky blue gem that settled within her palm with fondness. Just before her cousin had left, he had given her the gem choker, telling her that it matched her. Though she only laughed at his teasing, she must admit that she does wear pastel blue religiously, since it was her favorite color and it looked nice on her. If she would say so herself.

The choker was quite simple in all honesty, it was just a black ribbon, but it was enough to bring the piece together. The main attractor afterall was the centerpiece gem, stealing all attention at just one glance.

Closing her hand again, she returned indoor with her parents, she would definitely have to get a gift for her cousin in return.

❅

"Miss, there's a letter for you." A maid enters her room, before placing the letter onto her desk. Aileene simply nodded her head to acknowledge the maid, though her eyes remained glued to her book.

It was the weekend a month from when her cousin had visited her and nothing had changed much in that amount of time. She had her normal everyday routine and now that it was a leisure day for her, she found herself curled up against her room's large window seat for most of the day. A hot cup of tea in one hand, and a book from a stack of many more in another.

After the maid had left the room and closed the door again, Aileene closed her book and stood up from her seat. Placing her book down on the cushion, she stretched her arms over her head. Even if she had lost track of time itself, her arms and leg proved that she had been in that position for far too long, since she had lost almost all feeling in them. And her attempt at stretching didn't really help either, so she was left to limp to her desk with a hazy feeling in her legs.

Picking up the letter from her desk, she was surprised to see that it was from Princess Ruby, the envelope was even sealed with her signature. Popping open the seal, she pulled all the letter, unfolding it, she began reading its content. And though her expression remained unchanged while reading the letter, her mind immediately went to work, dissecting every syllable, comma, and period.

When she finished reading the letter, she refolded it, her face still remained expressionless. Though her feelings were definitely mixed about the content of the letter, afterall it was an invitation to the castle to have tea with the Princess, along with Xi Faber.

At first glance, it was a friendly letter, unassuming. But Aileene knew that this was only the start to a web of connection, all well due for high society. Though, she naturally didn't really want to be involved yet, these few years before her imminent end was her free time. It was her worry-free vacation period, she could practically do anything she wants with no reparation. It was a time where she could be as indulgent as she wanted to be. It was a time for her to be with her family, to be free.

And though she knew she could stay unrestricted for four more years, it would definitely be beneficial for her to cultivate her social standing. Currently, she was only known as the Lovell's Heiress with some talent in music. It was barely passable for a name, and it wouldn't be fitting for reputation. Afterall, she would eventually need people on her side and if they saw her as lacking now, who would want to side with her later.

Sighing, Aileene closed her eyes in contemplation, her hand instinctively massage her nose, something to help her headache. Life was simply too complicated, even for a child. And the more she thought about it, the more she wondered how others can adapt to such a difficult lifestyle. Conflict and people are ever-changing, barriers seemed to always be up and no one is easy to trust. At the end of the day, she wanted to ask them, wanted to ask herself, was there even any satisfaction living this way?