Arc 4: Chapter 64

Elenor stared at the letter that was now in her hands. She had ordered Alice to leave her and Alec alone once she handed the letter over.

A frown made its way onto her face. She twirled the letter around in her hand before finally opening it to see what was inside. Looking through the contents on the letter, the frown deepened before heaving out a sigh.

"They have personally invited me to their kingdom's annual ball which is held in 2 months." Elenor said, letting Alec know what was written.

"...Do you know anyone from Vaidia?" he questioned but she shook her head in response.

"That's the thing, I know nobody from there so why would someone from there personally invite me?" she mumbled, pondering to herself.

She turned to Alec, "We have to see if Lloyd or Isabella received one of these. If they do then maybe they have invited high status nobles."

Alec nodded, agreeing with her theory. "It is safer to think like that but what if it was only you who received this?"

Elenor began to think again but with her headache still aching, she stopped and fell back into Alec's embrace.

"My head still hurts...I'll think more later." she muttered with a yawn.

Alec shook his head at her but his hand made its way to her back, slowly caressing it. With the rhythmic caress he was doing, she slowly fell back to sleep, snuggling into his arms for warmth.

As she fell into slumber, she couldn't help but feel like something was off.

'Vaidia...it feels familiar..'

The next day she felt better and decided to pay a visit to both Isabella and Lloyd to enquire about the letter.

"Lloyd!" Elenor shouted as she burst into his office without a warning, scaring him.

He glared at her before putting his pen away. "Elenor? Another surprise visit?"

She nodded smugly before taking a seat. Alec stood beside her in silence, glancing coldly over at Lloyd before back at Elenor.

Lloyd's eyebrow twitched. What did he do to deserve the cold shoulder?

Elenor stretched her arms before looking over at him. "Did you get a letter from Vaidia?" she jumped straight into the question.

Lloyd paused before nodding. Elenor heaved out a sigh. Before arriving, she had met up with Isabella and asked her the same question. They had received a letter as well which had similar content inside it but it was only selected people who received this letter.

But the wax seal was different for Isabella. She had a silver seal whereas Lloyd, who was a royal blood, received a gold seal. However, Elenor had the same exact seal as Lloyd.

Lloyd saw the letter with wide eyes. "How did you get this seal?" he questioned but Elenor could only shrug as she too did not know.

"Let's think about that later," she waved it off before her eyes held a spark of interest.

"The letter says you can invite one person with you. You're bringing Rosina right?"

Lloyd coughed and bashfully looked away, "She already agreed..."

Elenor slapped his back proudly, "Good boy! I knew you weren't a coward!"

"Yea-ow! Elenor stop that hurts!" he complained, rubbing his back in agony.

"What about you? Who are you inviting?" he asked after the pain subsided.

Elenor grinned before proudly pointing over at Alec. Lloyd stared, puzzled.

"You aren't inviting your brother?"

"Ah," Elenor realised what he meant and shook her head, "Isabella is inviting him, he might say no so I'm going to pursue him a bit on accepting her invitation."

Lloyd nodded, knowing about Isabella's sudden crush on Richard. "But you don't need to invite Alec since he's your butler."

Elenor paused, "They might not allow him to go in with me since it's an invited annual ball."

"Hm..you do have a point, it is better to be on the safe side." Lloyd nodded at her reasoning.

She smiled at him before getting up, "That's all I came over for. I'll let you continue doing your work now."

"Noo." he whined, "Please stay longer, this workload is killing me!"

Elenor stuck her tongue out childishly, "Ask Rosina."

Lloyd huffed, "What kind of friend are you?"

As Elenor was leaving the room, she turned to him and grinned playfully, "A great one."

"Milady," Alec suddenly called her.

Her attention was stripped away from Lloyd to him with curious eyes. His face was still expressionless as ever.

"I need to discuss something with his highness."

She wanted to ask but seeing his gaze, she held herself back and only nodded. Alec bowed before heading back to Lloyd's office.

Her eyes lingered on the door a while longer. She wanted to eavesdrop on their conversation but instead decided not to and headed out to walk around the palace until Alec came back to her side. Walking around shortly, she came to a stop in front of a tree which had a lot of shade.

The first time she met Lloyd.

It was further away from the garden which didn't have many eyes around. It was the perfect resting spot. Just like last time, she took off her heels and sat down under the tree. Her blue long sleeve dress fluttered in the wind as she adjusted her sitting position, leaning against the sturdy tree trunk.

Feeling the wind tickle her skin, she gazed down at the letter in her hand. She touched the wax seal, brushing her fingertips against the bumpiness of it. She couldn't understand why she received this letter. Who sent this? Why her?

The more she rattled her brain, the more it hurt. It was as if something was blocking her information out.

'There must be something I'm missing…'

Unable to fathom this much information and questions anymore, she patiently waited until it was time for her to go home.

Elenor could feel herself growing sleepy. She shook her head aggressively trying to keep herself awake until Alec came back. She began watching the birds that weren't far away from her, peck their tiny beaks around the grass looking for food.

She quietly watched over them before beginning to hum to a song from her world. It was a melancholy tune and as if the world understood, the wind blew a gust of soft breeze. With a calm smile plastered on her face, she went from humming to softly singing the lyrics to the song.

Elenor felt like she could disappear any moment as she continued to sing but she didn't stop. It was until frantic footsteps were heard and a strong force suddenly pulled her forward into a tight hug.

Elenor finally stopped singing and opened her eyes which she didn't notice she had closed, in surprise. Alec was hugging her tightly, his face pressed against the crook of her neck. She could feel his hands that wrapped around her body tremble softly.

She wanted to call out his name but decided not to and instead wrapped her arms around his body the same way he did to her. His tensed body finally relaxed under her touch, his shoulders deflated.

The two stayed in that position until Alec finally pulled away. Elenor was able to finally see his face but once she did she couldn't help but frown.

He had a sorrowful expression and his complexion was pale. She reached out and touched his cheek. The expression didn't disappear but grew worse. He held her hand in his, never letting it go as he looked over at her.

He chewed on his lip before letting his head drop onto her shoulder.

"Don't leave me, Hyejin...please..don't..."

The sentence was faint and barely audible. It felt like the wind was speaking into her ears instead but she knew it was from him. It sounded broken and scared.

"..I won't." she whispered into his ear, pulling him into another hug comforting him silently.

At first, she was stumped, not knowing why he suddenly acted like this but after thinking back she realised he must have had the same thoughts as her as she softly sang.

That she would disappear.

Elenor wanted to apologise for making him like this but he spoke first,

"..If you leave I...I don't know what I'll do.." he muttered, pressing his face deeper into her shoulder.

She couldn't say anything. She ran her fingers through his neatly styled hair, not caring if she messes it up. She liked him with any hairstyle. This seemed to calm him down further. She felt his grip on her loosen into a more docile touch.

A gentle smile bloomed on her face. Elenor tapped his shoulder, signalling him to look up at her. He did so and looked over at her. She leaned in and pressed her mouth over his before pulling away.

She flicked his forehead lightly, "I won't leave. We promised each other already didn't we? If you can't leave, I can't as well."

Alec continued gazing at her before nodding. He gently squeezed her before removing his arms. Elenor took that as a sign to get up but when she took one step, she felt Alec's arm snake around her waist.

Warm lips were pressed against hers but before she could respond to the kiss, he pulled away and helped her stand back up on her feet. She absently stared at Alec while he put her heels back on for her.

He adjusted his coat and stood up straight but didn't bother about his now unkempt hair, "My apologies for finishing quite late. Shall we head home now milady?"

Seeing how Alec was trying to act like usual, she burst into laughter before nodding.

"Yeah. Let's go home now Alec."