Vera
Before I can hear his response I'm abruptly woken up by Ellie while Cecelia is crying on the room's floor, I get up from my bad and go to Cecelia "what happened?" I ask and she hugs me while crying and I look at Elllie in confusion. "It's Father" She says and I feel my world come to a halt.
No No No No No No
"What happened?" Ellie tries to explain but starts crying herself. "What happened to Father Ellie?" I almost shout at her but control my tone. "He was found by the policemen this morning" Cecelia says in between the sobs "they say he was attacked by someone and is in critical condition" She continues sobbing "so where is he?" I ask and Ellie responds "at the hospital"
I waste no more time and immediately run downstairs to visit the hospital but I'm stopped by Mother who also seems to have been crying for awhile "He isn't allowed visitors yet" She says in hopes that I'd stop but that doesn't stop me.
"Vera you can not be going out in your undergarments" Mother shouts and I realise she's correct. These are the moments I wish I was a man so I wouldn't have to worry about things like that although it isn't appropriate even for a man either but people wouldn't care that much if it was a man.
I throw on a dress quickly and Cecelia says she'd join me, to which I say yes and as we're about to leave the house. I see Lord Henry at the doorstep. Cecelia immediately hugs him and breakdown in his arms while he tries to comfort her. As I see her getting comforted so sweetly by her fiance I feel something in my heart I don't know what it is but.....we don't have time for this.
I want to tell them to be quick but that doesn't sound appropriate. They finally part after a few minutes of hugging and comforting. "I heard the news I'm so sorry. I've brought the carriage we shall depart now" He says and me and Cecelia get on the carraige. Mother insisted on coming but she has been in bad health herself so we convinced her to rest. "How could this happen?" Cecelia mumbles.
"I'm sure we'll find out whoever is responsible for this soon. I also sent Lord Vulcan a letter regarding this. I'm sure he'll be using his connections with the detectives to help us find the Culprit" My ears jolt up at Lord Vulcan's name. I'm going to be honest it's very comforting hearing that he'll be helping us out. "Until then I've ordered the hospital to give father in law the best care they can" Once again I feel grateful towards Lord Henry
As we arrive at the hospital, we're told that we can not visit him until a few more hours and my heart sinks. I expected this much but waiting for hours is still unnerving. We spend around 40 minutes outside the room my Father is kept in and Lord Henry is trying his best to offer comfort to Cecelia.
My heart warms at that but also feels a little pinge of pain. I don't understand why. I'm certainly happy for them. Is it because I also wish for someone to comfort me like that? I shake my head at the absolutely absurd thought. No that can not be it. I have build myself up to be self dependent emotionally. I do not need anyone to comfort me and most Certainly not a partner. I'm just feeling vulnerable because of Father. That has to be it.
"How has he been so far?" I hear a familiar voice say and lift my head up. "Theodore thank you for arriving on such short notice" My brother in law gets up and greets him. For some reason I feel relieved as soon as I see him. "They said he will be fine. The wound was fatal but they were able to save him" Lord Henry explains and I add " But We have to wait a few hours before we can visit him" He looks at me and we stare at each other for a few moments and he nods
"M'lady I've asked my detective friends for a favor and they said they'd pay special attention to the case and make sure it's assigned to a capable person." He says and I feel a little relieved hearing it from him. "I appreciate your help very much" I say and I can see the confusion between Lord Henry and Cecelia very well. "Since when were you two on speaking terms?" My brother in law asks and Cecelia looks at me with suspicion. "Last I remember you despised him so much you ran away twice from him" Cecelia adds and I saw a look of hurt in Lord Vulcan's eyes for a few moments. "Did it look like she despised me that much?" He asks awkwardly and both of them nod together.
"Oh well M'lady I'm certainly glad you don't despise me anymore" He says attempting to joke about it. "You two are overreacting, I never despised him" I say and they both make a face of disbelief "you can not say that after you ran away the only two times you saw him." Cecelia adds and honestly it makes sense from her point of view but she doesn't know the whole story.
"She's got a point Miss Vera. After all the interest you showed in his work I thought you'd be delighted to meet him but the way you reacted I thought maybe you hated the way he looked" Lord Henry says and before I can correct him he continues "but you're not the kind of person who would judge someone for their looks so I doubted that was the case and not to mention the ladies usually love his looks." Somehow the last part irritated me a little.
"Then I thought maybe it was because of his horrible personality that you didn't like him" Lord Henry adds and Lord Vulcan coughs awkwardly. "Thank you for you insight about my personality Lord Henry. I'm sure M'la- Miss Vera had her reasons for reacting that way. Let's leave it at that now shall we?"
Lord Vulcan says trying to end the conversation. "Sorry Mate as much as I like you, you have got to work on your social skills and develop a personality or you'll never get a wife" Lord Henry says jokingly but I kind of don't like the way he insults Lord Vulcan even as a joke "Right, you say you don't even want a wife" That catches my attention. "You don't?" I ask Lord Vulcan myself and he looks like he doesn't know how to respond. When he doesn't say anything for awhile Lord Henry adds "That's what he always says" that's unexpected. "M'lady that's-"
"You can visit the patient now but Only two people can enter at once" The nurse interrupts and me and Cecelia look at each ither and nod. We go inside the room and look at out Father. He's in horrible condition. "He was attacked on his head and was bleeding a lot, it looked like the person tried to drive a rod through his skull" The nurse explains and both mine and Cecelia's expressions are horrified at the thought.
"Who would do something so horrible?" Cecelia says trying not to break into sobs again and I don't even know how to comfort her or what to say. I take Father's hand in mine and wish for his recovery soon.
"Father I promise to make you so proud one day" I don't know what else to say to him actually I have no words to express so I just sit there holding his hand and trying not to cry. "I can not see him like this" Cecelia says crying and runs out of the room.
I don't know how long I spend next to father like this until someone calls me. I turn around to find Lord Vulcan. "M'lady it's time to go" He says and I notice the nurse behind him and nod.
Once we're both out of the room he says "we got a lead on who the attacker might have been" My mind is alerted immediately. "What lead?" I ask and he shows me a drawing of a pendant. It's a half moon pendant. "A pendant like this was found at the scene and we're suspecting it belonged to the attacker" He says and looks back at my father's room.
"Once your Father wakes up he can perhaps confirm whether it belonged to the attacker Or it's his own" He says and I add "it's likely that it belongs to the attacker. My father is a simple man. He isn't really fond of jewellery" I say and he nods.
"M'lady I think it's best that you return home and take some rest" I do feel extremely tired but I don't want to leave Father's side. "The staff will take care of him, neglecting your own health doesn't look good on a future published author M'lady" He managed to make me smile despite everything. "Where is Cecelia?" I ask as my eyes look for her. "Unfortunately Lord Henry had a work emergency so he had to leave and I convinced Miss Cecelia to take a leave as well by ensuring I'll stay with you"
A question pops in my head despite everything going on. "Why are you doing so much?" I ask and he looks perplexed "I'm not sure if I'm following M'lady" He asks so I continue explaining "I understand you asked detectives for a favor since Lord Henry personally requested your assistance but staying here with me for so long is certainly something you don't need to do, so why?"
He looks like he's at loss for words "is it because I'm Lord Henry's Sister in law?" I ask and he immediately responds "your relationship with Lord Henry has nothing to do with why I'm here" I'm the perplexed one now. "Then why?" he looks frustrated now. "M'lady you really don't understand do you?" He asks and I shake my head. He takes a deep breath and let's out a sigh.
"Let's just say it's because we're friends" He says and I'm dumbfounded. "Friends?" Are we friends? For a long time I thought he was just a figment of my imagination but can we be considered friends now that I know he's a real person? "Yes M'lady unless you don't wish to be acquainted to me at all anymore" He says the last part with a hint of fear in his tone. "No of course not. I'd be delighted to be friends with you" I say and he smiles.
"It's time you go home and rest M'lady" He says and I nod. I look back at my Father's room one last time before leaving and Lord Vulcan follows me from behind. As we get out of the hospital and I'm about to sit in the carraige he brought I hear someone call me.
"Miss Vera" I turn around to see who it might be. "Mr. Rai, good to see you" I say greeting him and he returns it. "Miss Vera I heard about your father and came as soon as I could. Unfortunately Mira is suffering from cold so she couldn't visit but she sent her well wishes to you and your family" It's nice seeing so many people to be here and support our family.
"I made a request with the higher ups and I'm officially working on this case Miss Vera" That makes my eyes light up and I could see Lord Vulcan being a little surprised from the corner of my eye "Really? I could never be grateful enough to you Mr. Rai" I say with a smile and he returns it. "I'll make sure whoever did this is caught as soon as possible" He says and that reassures me a lot. I know he's a good detective, I know I can trust him on this.
"M'lady I think it's time to go" I turn around to see Lord Vulcan and for some reason he seems like he's irritated now. "Yeah sure and it appears your request was also granted considering Mr..Rai got the case" I say cheerfully and he looks like he doesn't agree. I forgot these two have not officially met yet so I introduce them.
"Right I didn't even introduce you two, Lord Vulcan this is Mr. Arjun Rai, he's my friend's brother, he's a detective and I'm grateful towards him regarding many things" I say and turn to Arjun "Mr. Rai this is Lord Vulcan he's a businessman and a psychologist, he's a friend of mine and also a close friend of Cecelia's fiance" Both of them look at each other and I feel like they're not going to get along. They shake hands and exchange greetings politely but I can sense the tension between them. They clearly don't like each other for some reason.
"Miss Vera I'm going to my workplace so I suppose I can drop you off On the way if you don't mind" Mr. Rai offers and as I'm about to decline but Lord Vulcan steps in "your offer is very much appreciated but I'm afraid she doesn't require it as you can see I'm already dropping her off" Lord Vulcan says politely but I can sense the irritation in his tone.
"Why don't we let her decide?" Arjun says and I nod. "Mr. Rai Lord Vulcan is correct, you have already done so much for me hence I do not wish to trouble you anymore" I say and he looks like he's about to argue more but then stops and nods. "As you wish Miss Vera" He says and steps aside as me and Lord Vulcan get inside the carriage and find a maid from his house already sitting there.
At first I was confused about why she's here but I then I remembered it's considered inappropriate for a man and woman to ride a carriage alone together if unmarried, I suppose he remembered that and brought along a maid just in case. That was very thoughtful of him.
I look at him and he still seems irritated from meeting Mr. Rai. I remember that Mr. Rai mentioned he didn't like psychologists so his irritation was explainable but Lord Vulcan works with detectives all the time, I don't understand why he'd be so irritated. "Do you not like Mr. Rai?" I ask and he looks outside the window to avoid my eyes "Why would you think that M'lady?" He asks as if his whole behavior isn't enough to let everyone know.
"Oh I don't know, maybe the way you were glaring at him the whole time" I say and he looks away. "He's a nice Man, you might get along if you get to know him" I say trying to make things better although I know it's not going to work. "Sure M'lady I'll try to get to know him better" I can tell he won't but I don't push the matter for now.
We spend next few minutes in silence while enjoying the ride
"So you don't wish to marry?" I ask to start another conversation he seems surprised at the sudden question. "Well I have always been too busy to give the matter a thought" He says and I bring up what Lord Henry said "Earlier Lord Henry mentioned that you had no such interests" I say and he immediately responds with "I have always been uninterested in romance and I'm sure you understand why since you yourself are uninterested in it" He says and I couldn't agree more.
"Yes indeed it's a facade to make two people suffer their whole life by fooling them into believing they're in love. No such thing exists and I'm sure as a psychologist it's harder for you to fall in love since you can see through most of people's intentions" I say and he looks like he's thinking deeply about what I said.
"I didn't expect such an intense opinion of romance from you M'lady" I feel a little offended by that for some reason. "Why not?" I ask and he responds with "For someone who doesn't care about romance you seem to have awfully strong opinion of it and sound like you have given it a lot of thought. People who are truly not interested in romance simply don't think twice about it"
I feel a little irritated now. "I thought things through so I don't make any mistakes like falling for someone because that would be incredibly stupid. Before I can fall prey to such stupidity it's better to think it through beforehand and avoid it completely" I say and he looks like he's taking notes mentally regarding something and I'm more irritated now.
I suddenly feel like I'm being analyzed and I do not like it "Are you analyzing my behavior like one of your patients? Do you think I need mental help?" I say almost raising my voice. Of course he would also think that just like everyone. "I am not your patient to fix" I say with a stern tone. "No M'lady Of course that's not what I-"
The carriage comes to a stop and I get out. Great it's his house. I simply do not care to ask if this was a mistake or not. I just keep walking in his garden out of rage and I can feel him following me. "Of course you think I need to be fixed and my opinions are immature and need to be changed" I say moving forward while stomping on the ground in rage and as I'm about to pass by the tree I first met him at he comes in front of me and I start walking backwards as he comes forward. I refuse to look at him as I keep walking backwards.
"M'lady look at me" I still don't and keep stepping backwards and he keeps stepping forward. "M'lady please" I hear the pleading in his voice and my knees almost melt. I finally look at him and feel myself hit the tree the moment our eyes meet. I always loved his eyes but the way he's pleading with them right now makes my heart clench. He closes his eyes and shortens the distance between us. Our forheads almost touching. "Please hear me out M'lady" He says almost begging.
"You don't need to be fixed" He says every word like he means it. "And your opinions are valid" I feel tears almost form in my eyes "and no you do not need mental help" He says and somehow I feel like the last part is a lie. I sort of chuckle at it. "This is the first time someone has said that to me, usually I'm told otherwise" I say and corners of his lips pull up a little. "They're the ones who need mental help M'lady not you" He says and I laugh again. "You're going overboard trying to comfort me" I say and he shruggs " As long as it makes you feel better M'lady" He says so casually yet it generates a warm feeling in my heart.
As he said that I realized that I may have overreacted a little over a casual chat. "I apologize for overreacting, It's just I'm so used to the fact the you're the perfect figment of my mind and would never say anything to hurt me but when I noticed you act like that my insecurities got triggered. I got afraid that you were just like everyone else and didn't understand me like I thought you did so my suppressed anger resurfaced " He listened to me very intently "M'lady I can not say that my words will never hurt you because frankly sometimes I myself don't know what I'm saying or what should be said in certain moments but I do promise that if my words ever hurt you again I'll always be here to explain or take any punishment you wish for me" He says and once again I find it hard to believe that he isn't a figment of my own mind.
"Hey Theodre I-" We both turn around to see Celeste who stopped her sentence in the middle and abruptly turned around. "I'm so sorry I didn't mean to interrupt, I was so busy looking at these documents that I didn't notice you were with someone"
She says as she's turned away. We both part away from each other although I'm not sure why it feels like I've been caught doing something I shouldn't be doing. We were just talking and she happened to be arrive in middle of it. There is nothing wrong with talking so why is her reaction so extreme?
In my dreams we used to talk all the time but I suppose things are different in the real world. "You're not interrupting anything Celeste" I say and she turns around eyeing both of us suspiciously. "We were just talking" I say and she doesn't seem to believe me. "It's nice to see you again Miss Vera" She says walking towards us and I return her greeting.