Arc 3: Chapter 44

It was the day of the tea party at Earl Stout's manor. Elenor wore a light blue dress with long sleeves. The design was a dress which clung to her waist with a poofy skirt at the end. It had ruffles everywhere, including the sleeves making the dress look more doll-like. The final touch to the dress was a big bow at the chest area.

To match with the dress, Elenor had a hat matching the dress colour. It was decorated with small bows around the rim of the hat and a large white feather. She wore light blue heels to go with her whole outfit along with a few accessories like a necklace and pair of earrings.

When it was time to leave for the tea party, she headed inside the carriage together with Alec. The ride to Earl Stout's manor was quiet. None of them spoke a word to each other. It has been like that for the past few days.

Alec would continue his usual duties and stayed by Elenor's side but there were no usual conversations between the two. Elenor didn't know what to say to him especially after that incident and Alec seemed to not want to speak as well. The tension between them was strained and awkward but neither of them tried to break it.

When they reached the manor. Alec got down first before extending his hand towards Elenor. Elenor was hesitant but eventually grabbed hold of his hand and got down the carriage. The tea party was held both outside and inside. Most of the ladies were inside while the men were outside.

Elenor looked around, seeing a few familiar faces while most were unknown. Her eyes fell on a familiar figure. Her lips were pressed into a thin line. She never wrote about Isabella coming to the tea party but then again she didn't write about her that often in her book as well. The main villainess was Elenor while Isabella was the second.

"Lady Elenor, thank you for coming today." she heard someone speaking to her.

Turning her head towards the person speaking to her, her eyes instantly noticed the pink hair. Her breath was immediately taken away by the beauty in front of her.

"I am eternally grateful to have you here at this tea party today," Rosina said with a bright smile on her face.

Elenor couldn't believe she was standing right in front of her in person. Her mind went blank. She was an absolute beauty! Her writing didn't do enough justice for how beautiful she really was. It was as if a goddess fell from the sky. She was shining so brightly that Elenor nearly squinted her eyes.

"Lady Elenor?" Rosina called out.

She quickly snapped out of her thoughts and replied back to her, trying her best not to squeal or blurt out any random things that could make things awkward between them.

"Thank you for inviting me to this lovely tea party, Lady Rosina. It is such a blessing to be able to meet you for the first time as well." she spoke with her polite voice she would use around other nobles.

Rosina giggled and nodded, "It is a blessing to be able to have a chat with you Lady Elenor,"

She then gestured towards the tea party, "Then please do enjoy your time at the tea party." she bowed before heading off to greet the other guests that newly arrived.

When Elenor was by herself, she covered her face with her hands and silently screamed. Rosina was extremely cute! Elenor wanted to hug her so badly. She was surprised at how she was able to keep her act up all the way until Rosina left. Her brain was going to overdrive from just being able to be in the presence of her protagonist.

'Calm down, calm down, you're still at the tea party. Everyone can see you right now.' Elenor reminded herself.

After a few deep breaths, she regained her composure and continued her usual front around nobles. She took a few dessert bites and handed it over to Alec to hold while she chatted with a few people she was familiar with.

"Recently Lady Adelia got engaged right?" one of the ladies Elenor was chatting with, said excitedly.

Adelia shyly smiled and nodded, "That's right. I got engaged to Sir Roy last month."

Elenor lightly clapped her hands together, "Congratulations Lady Adelia, do invite us to your wedding."

Adelia blushed, "I will!!"

"Lady Elenor, you haven't found a marriage partner?"

Elenor shook her head and lightly chuckled, "No, I would like to live my life a bit more before settling down with a man."

"I'm sure many men would want you as their wife!"

Elenor laughed, "You must be seeing things. I don't think many would want a lady with hair like mine."

Adelia shook her head, "Your hair is beautiful Lady Elenor and trust us. Many men want you as their wife."

Elenor smiled, not saying anything else. The other ladies continued chatting amongst themselves which gave Elenor a chance to slip away from the crowd. She heaved out a sigh. She was already kinda tired from continuously chatting.

"Milady," she heard Alec's voice beside her.

She turned to her side to look at him. He held the plate up with the desserts she had taken. A smile made its way on her face as she took one dessert and delightfully ate it. Although the air between them was still awkward, she was glad he was with her at this moment.

"Marriage…" she heard him mumble something to himself.

"Oh that marriage talk just now?" Elenor grabbed another dessert and slowly ate it.

She had nobody to talk to so she's going to pretend it wasn't awkward between them and spoke to Alec.

"I don't care, I'm not interested in marriage. The men here only care about status and power. I'm not interested in being their stepping stone towards their selfish goals." she said, finishing another dessert bite.

"That's right. Don't get engaged to some random man." Alec agreed.

Elenor chuckled, "Right?"

She looked towards the crowd, watching the people chat amongst their peers. A sigh slipped out of her lips. She suddenly felt like talking more.

"I dated this guy in my world. We were together for three years then he suddenly broke up with me on our anniversary and got together with another girl a few weeks later. Stupid isn't it?" Elenor laughed to herself, eating another dessert.

She didn't hear Alec reply to her so she continued speaking. She didn't care if he was listening or not, she just wanted to talk to someone that wasn't a noble.

"To be honest, I was glad we broke up. He was boring and plain yet I continued to date him for the sake of dating. I thought I was going to marry him as well. Glad I didn't have to." she smiled to herself.

She didn't know if she was dwelling over how shitty her breakup was or if she missed the feeling of being loved. She did remember she wrote this romance book around the time she broke up with him. Perhaps that was her way of coping with things.

"Did you love him?" Alec softly asked, looking at her with such eyes she couldn't help but be mesmerized in it.

Something was drawing herself in his eyes. How all his eyes reflected was just her.

"...I did." Elenor slowly answered his question truthfully, a sullen smile was on her face.

"..I loved him with all my heart but he just left me for another girl." Elenor kicked a small pebble that was close to her feet, away.

Of course she loved him. If she didn't, why would she be with him for three whole years. She even cried in her room for weeks. She loved him but he didn't. She was only a girl who wanted love and to be loved.

Elenor felt warm fingers touching her cheek. Her gaze moved up, staring back at the black orbits.

"Alec…?" she whispered, not knowing what Alec was doing.

His fingers stroked her cheek ever so softly, it sent small shivers down her spine. Alec didn't say anything and pulled away.

"That man," he started.

"Doesn't deserve you. You are better off without him."

Elenor stared at Alec before laughing. A warm feeling spread through her chest. Hearing those simple words comforted her. She knew he meant every word and it wasn't just words that people would often say without meaning half of it. He cared about her and knowing that made her feel warm and bubbly inside.

Elenor took Alec's hand and squeezed it. With a warm smile on her face, she spoke, "Thank you Alec."

Alec turned his hand, grasping hers now. He lightly squeezed it back making Elenor's smile grow wider.

"..I'm sorry about what happened." he said.

Elenor knew what he was talking about and quickly shook her head. "No! It was my fault, I shouldn't have tried creeping up on you like that. I know you were on defense, it's not your fault."

"But I nearly broke your wrist." he persisted.

"No it was-"

"Elenor please." Alec cut her off. His voice sounded like he was begging her.

Elenor stopped herself from speaking and nodded. Alec showed her a small smile, "Thank you."

The awkward tension between them disappeared and they were back to how it was before the incident. The two continued to stay at one spot of the tea party which was far from the crowd and hard to notice.