Nostalgic Feeling

The day slowly ended with the sun going behind the clouds, and the wind carried with it a gentle breeze that gently caressed the body of the people, cooling their sweaty bodies caused by the heat of the summer.

By the time Seraphina left the law firm, she was already looking exhausted not because she had worked all day but because her mind had done the work her body would have done. Thinking and rethinking the same thought over and over again.

She had to agree that thinking and stressing the brain was surely the greatest stress one would do to their body. Not the physical stress was the problem, it was the mental stress that weighed more.

As she walked back home, all she wanted to do was lay in a cold bath and cool her throbbing head from all the exhaustion.

Seraphina reached inside her small bag hung across her shoulders and took out her pocket watch and flipped it open.

It was a few minutes past the hour of four on her watch. There was enough time before her parents will get home. She thought and decided to visit Lucy who she had written to that they would celebrate because of being appointed as the assistant of the manager of the law firm.

Now, she didn't know if she will celebrate that she was happy for finally getting the job she desired or celebrate for discovering so many secrets that all came with threats hanging on her neck in one day.

Maybe tomorrow she would discover more and what's more? There wouldn't be only written threats, there might be physical threats too.

Haha! Seraphina laughed in her head. How she badly wanted to laugh out loud but people will call her and more rumors about her will spread around the town.

She wondered how and why people would spread rumors that were not true saying that Dallan Erix was her lover. She liked the man and wouldn't mind marrying him, but the problem was, they were just friends and there haven't been any move from his side.

Sometimes she wondered if he liked her back the same way she did. There had been doubts about some decisions she had made. Like trying to cancel the marriage proposal with the Lord's family in hopes that Erix will ask her hand in marriage. But then, everything was put on hope and she prayed that her efforts wouldn't be in vain.

The doubts. The questions all weighed on her shoulders. Maybe she would ask Lucy about her thoughts on it before she made a mistake she felt she had made before though she couldn't pinpoint what the feeling was all about.

The feeling was strange but it was always there like it was invading her mind now. Sometimes when she did things, she always felt the nostalgia feeling of doing the same thing before.

Why she had those feelings, she didn't know.

Before Seraphina knew it, she had already arrived in the house of Lucy. Entering through their slightly open gates, Seraphina walked the little distance from Lucy's gate to the entrance of their house.

Seraphina knocked twice on the door and it was opened on the third knock.

It was Lucy's mother, Elizabeth Manzo, that opened the door and as always the older woman beamed with smiles and gave her a side hug.

As Lucy called her, Elizabeth called the snow-white skin Lady, "Phina, what a surprise to see you visiting for a long time now. Hope everything is alright?" She asked and stared all over Seraphina's body to see if she was perfectly fine.

Seraphina returned her smile, "I'm doing good, Madam Elizabeth. How about you?" She politely returned her question.

Elizabeth gave a small laugh, "Of course, child I'm doing good. Your presence seemed to have brightened my mood."

"That's good to hear. Is Lucy at home?" Seraphina questioned.

"Ah, yes, yes. Please come in, I didn't mean to keep you outside. Forgive my negligence." Elizabeth gave an apologetic smile and stepped aside to allow Seraphina in.

"There's no problem, Madam. You shouldn't apologize. It happens sometimes." Seraphina said. Lucy's mother was like a second mother to her and sometimes she was jealous of Lucy for having a woman as softhearted as her.

It didn't mean her own mother was not kind, but she displayed it with an equal strictness in it. But after all, her mother was still her mother and she loved her more.

Seraphina left for Lucy's room after Madam Elizabeth said she would prepare some snacks for them.

Without knocking, Seraphina opened the door and went straight into the room, and flopped down on Lucy's bed.

Lucy came out of the bathroom with a towel tied around her chest when she heard the sound of her door being opened and the sound of someone falling.

"I thought someone fell, I didn't know it was you." Lucy rolled her green eyes and came to sit beside Seraphina who didn't respond. "Hey, what's up? You look stressed."

"I am stressed, Lucy." Seraphina agreed still lying on the bed. She turned to look at Lucy who looked worried.

"I'm all ears, Phina. Before I forget, how was your first day at work?" Lucy asked and stood up.

"Horrible," Seraphina said with all the frustration brewing in her chest.

"Horrible?" Lucy's voice came from the closet where she was choosing a dress to wear. "Come on tell me, did they give you a hard time with loads of work? I know how first days are" Taking a light-colored blue dress Lucy came out and loosened the towel around her body and started dressing up.

Seraphina didn't mind the naked Lady in front of her. They were used to each other and there were times when they would bathe together. That was how close they were.

"No," Seraphina shook her head. "They didn't give me any work. They were actually nice."

"Then what is wrong?" Lucy finished dressing and sat on the dressing chair. She took her comb and threw it at Seraphina who caught it.

Seraphina stood up with the comb and went behind Lucy and started combing her hair. "It's about the marriage, Lucy. I don't know if I'm making a terrible mistake of trying to stop it. It's a rare opportunity to be married into a reputable family."

"Don't you like Erix anymore?" Lucy watched Seraphina from the mirror and asked.

"I do. I like him but it feels I'm making a mistake of having my hopes on him and it feels like I've done the same thing before and it didn't end well." Seraphina exhaled. She kept the comb on the table after combing Lucy's hair, and they both walked back to the bed and sat down.

"Like you made the same mistake before and it didn't end well?" Lucy inquired in a thoughtful tone. "Do you believe in the afterlife or is it previous life?"

"Oh, Lucy. Don't believe such nonsense. There can't be a past and afterlife." Seraphina waved her hand refuting Lucy's question.

Lucy shrugged, "Well it can be possible considering what you said." She paused and took Seraphina's hand "Look, best friend. I'll give you some simple advice. If you feel your heart is telling you to stop the marriage, then you go ahead with it."

"But if not, then you go ahead with the marriage. As you said, it's a rare opportunity to be married into a reputable home, and that too a Lord's home."

"But marrying into a home without love is something I don't want, Lucy. I want a home filled with love and not the type built from an arranged marriage. Not arranged marriage, but as a peace bride to settle a dispute." Seraphina confessed her fears, her shoulders shrunken more than they were before.

Lucy patted Seraphina's hand reassuringly. "Do not worry, I'm always here. Continue doing what you are doing. Go to work, come back. Follow what your heart is telling you. In the end, fate will take its course."

"Either it was arranged for you to end up with Erix or you marry one of the Lord's sons or you might even end up marrying another man, there's nothing you can change, Phina. You're stressing yourself. Go home, take a cold bath, eat, and sleep. Tomorrow you'll wake up with a clear head."

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A/N: There will be a mass release for this book today. This is the first chapter, two more chapters will be updated later today. Please, support this book with your votes and gifts. Thank you. <3