Vera
"I'm so sorry to hear about your father Ms Vera, I wish him the safest recovery soon" Celeste says as we're sitting down in their living room. "Thank you Miss Celeste" She seems like a wonderful person. Last time I visited I could not chat with her but I think we can bond this time. "Miss Vera you're certainly delightful to talk to. I had been regretting that we could not talk much the last time you visited but we can make up for it today if you do not mind ofcourse" I smile. "The feeling is extremely mutual Miss Celeste"
"M'lady I inquired the coachman. He claimed it was an honest mistake. He is used to following this route hence he absentmindedly took the usual route, I told him it was fine but the mistake shouldn't happen again. You were supposed to take thos time off to rest, I apologize on his behalf" Lord Vulcan explains.
"Honestly I'm glad I came here, I have been feeling devastated since morning but I got to meet Celeste again and we can bond better" I say and he smiles "Whatever makes you happy M'lady" Somehow I feel this weird warm feeling in my heart everytime he says things like that. I always feel warm whenever my father or Amelia comfort me but this is different.
Lord Vulcan is certainly good at comforting but somehow I do not think it's the same feeling. Whatever it is now is not the time to think about it. I ignore the feeling for now and drink the tea that Celeste very sweetly served "So Miss Vera what do you like about my brother?"
I almost choke down the tea and put the cup down while Lord Vulcan provides me a handkerchief. "M'lady please slow down" He says and I finally calm down after a few coughs. "I'm sorry but what do you mean by that?" I ask and Celeste looks perplexed "well I thought you guys are you know involved or at least about to be engaged" She says and both of us look speechless at first but begin to deny it as soon as we recover ffrom the absurdity of the claim. "That is not the case at all we're just acquainted and more or less like friends" I finally say she laughs awkwardly. "I.... See" she sounds like she doesn't believe us but there is nothing we can do to convince her so we leave it at that.
"I'm sorry for assuming that. It's just that Brother rarely talks to people at all, let alone women and when I saw that you two were talking in the garden I assumed that you were.....you know" She explains and I look at him while he's sipping tea. I notice his ears are little red. Oh my is he embarrassed? That's kind of adorable. I'm certainly going to tease him about it later. "Oh I don't mind at all, it's understandable."
"Lord Henry told me you are writing a book and I am quite a reader so if you don't mind can I get a look at your Novel once it's finished?" Celeste asks and I feel awkward all of a sudden. Am I writing a book? Yes. Do I wish for people to read it? yes but do I want people I know to read it? Unfortunately No but I can not be saying that to her so I just emd up saying "sure I would love to hear what you have to say about it" That's not a lie, I'd like to hear people's opinion but I don't want them to read it. Sounds quite ridiculous but that's just how I feel.
"It's fabulous to know you love to read Miss Celeste, not many young women are open to reading nowdays or more like they aren't allowed to" I say the last part with a bit of frustration because it still infuriates me how so many young women in multiple parts of the country are discouraged to read. "My brother has always been supportive of me. He always pushes me to learn new things and enhance my intellect. He even pushed me to run our clothing business all by myself while he takes care of rest of our estate and focuses on learning psychology" She says and I find that extremely heartwarming although It's sorrowful that something so basic from a man can be considered thoughtful and evolutionary.
Do not misunderstand me, I am delighted that Lord Vulcan supports his sister but I wish it wasn't considered a biazzare thing for a man to do that because at the end of the day it should be a human right for women to be able to do all that even without the permission from a man.
I had a wonderful time chatting with Celeste for the next 2 hours although I couldn't fully enjoy it since I was still worried about my Father in the back of my mind the most of time. Both of them tried their best to cheer me up and I appreciated the effort but ofcourse I can not be feeling any better until Father gets up.
Lord Vulcan brought me back to the hospital and I find Cecelia and Lord Henry to be already here.
"Vera Father is awake" As soon as I hear Cecelia say that I immediately run towards the room. I sit down on the chair next to his bed and take his hand in mine. "Father how are you feeling?" I ask and he looks at both of us with pure affection. "I'm in quite a lot of pain Vera however seeing my little girls so worried and crying is not helping me feel any better." Me and Cecelia smile through tears. "I promise we'll catch the person who did this to you and they will have to pay" I say through gritted teeth. "He was wearing a cloak, I couldn't see his face but he was good at fighting as you can see" Lord Vulcan and Lord Henry enter the room while maintaining a proper distance and still giving us space as family.
After a few moments of talking with my Father I feel a lot better. "Sir if you don't mjnd could you tell us what exactly happened? We think it would be helpful if you could remember any crucial detail. No pressure of course. You don't have to force yourself if you don't remember" Lord Henry asks and Father tries to remember the incident.
"I was returning home at around 5 in the morning after working all night. It was a dark alley and I was simply passing through until I saw someone looking suspicious in a cloak but I didn't let it bother me until I heard him say weird things" Father says and Cecelia asks what sort of weird things but Father says he didn't exactly remember what the person was saying but "I noticed he wasn't alone, there was another person with him there and He was trying to do something with a pendulum to that person" Both Me and Lord Vulcan look at each other at the same time knowing exactly what he's talking about. "I didn't understand what he was doing but It certainly felt like it was something bad so I intervened and that's when he started attacking me, I tried to stop him but couldn't and ended up in this situation" Father says the last part with a hint of regret . "I managed to pull a pendant from his neck in hopes that it might be helpful for police to find him later. Although I'm not sure if it's actually going to be helpful or not."
"It has been helpful indeed Sir, the detectives have been inquiring about the pendant on jwellery stores and they'll certainly soon find out who brought such pendant and we'll be a step closer to catching that person" Lord Vulcan says and my Father nods. "Who might this gentleman be?" Father asks and Lord Henry explains. "He's a close friend of mine. He knows some detectives personally so I asked for a favor from him" Father nods in understanding. "We would be indebted to you for your help gentleman" Father says and Lord Vulcan shakes his head. "I can only do so much for a friend Sir" He looks at me while saying the word 'friend' and I smile.
After a certain period of time the nurse asks us to leave the room as it's time for Father's rest so we do. As soon as we're out of the room Lord Henry and Cecelia request to have a talk with me and Lord Vulcan so we do.
As soon as we're in a secluded place Lord Henry starts talking. "Okay so what exactly is going on between you two" He asks and I roll my eyes. First Celeste and now them again. "Do not give me the eye roll sister for I know you're certainly hiding something" She says and have a look of disbelief on my face. "We're good friends and we respect each other's work. That's all" Lord Vulcan responds and I couldn't agree more with him. It is indeed true that I respect his work and we're great friends. I don't know why it's hard for people to believe that a man and a lady can be friends with no romantic acquaintance at all. "He is correct indeed and I'm sure you're aware of his disinterest in marraige and I happen to share the same views as on the matter hence it is extremely absurd for any of you to be thinking anything remotely similar to what you're trying to imply" I say with a stern tone but Cecelia still doesn't seem to believe me and I have given up on trying.
"Well Miss Vera forgive me if I had been too disrespectful. I got a little worked up thinking my friend here who has never been interested in romance finally found a lady he ikes. Although it would've bewn delightful had you actually been involved in a romantic relationship but we respect your choice Miss Vera" Lord Henry says aapologizing and I accept his apology.
"Miss Vera do you mind telling us what made you so unsure of marriage?" Lord Henry asks although he's being polite but I do not wish to share my views with him for I do not think he would understand. "She dreams of being a published author. Although I've told her multiple times that it's a silly dream yet she-" Cecelia explains but gets interrupted by Lord Vulcan "With all due respect Miss Cecelia I beg to differ. Miss Vera here is quite intellectual and has a vivid imagination. I firmly believe she holds more than enough talent to become a published author"
I look at him with gratefulness and give him a small smile. Whatever good deeds I did to deserve a friend like him? Cecelia says nothing in response for a while but smiles politely. "Yes I apologize Lord Vulcan for my ignorance of the talent of my sister" She says and sounds like she means it but I don't understand why she's smiling looking at both of us.
"M'lady I suppose it's time to go back, you really need to rest today after Celeste took the most of your resting time" He says and I nod. "When did you meet Celeste? " Cecelia asks and we explain what happened. She is looking at us with that weird look yet again like she knows something but can not say it. I don't inquire further because I do feel exhausted and don't have energy to hold a conversation any longer.
Few weeks later Father is in a lot better health and will be recovering completely soon enough, at least that's what I'm wishing for. l have been busy with visiting Mira and Celeste along with going to the hospital. I have been bonding better with Celeste as well but unfortunately her brother isn't around much. Lord Vulcan has been busy with his work and finding out leads on the case. Mr. Rai has also been working on the case and gave us a few suspects but we can not be sure who the attacker is yet. I have been wishing to be helpful with finding the attacker but both of them have refused to get me involved for obvious reasons. The reasons being I might be put in danger if I involve myself too much.
I myself have been too occupied with visiting father, writing my Novel and helping Celeste manage some of her business affairs. Yes she asked for my help in managing her clothing brand and I agreed. Mostly I provide her some ideas and opinions on certain designs and she seems to like them. Mira has been teaching me about medicine and I would love to inquire more knowledge regarding various topics so I have been visiting her regarding that and one of the reasons is to just hang out with her and take a rest.
What saddens me is that in between all this I've only got to meet Amelia once or twice, that too when she herself visited me. I have to make it up to her so I'll be visiting her soon. Me from a few months ago would not believe how busy I have gotten considering I used to lie around in my room all day and just read.
It's been a tiring day so I decide to sleep as soon as I get back from visiting Mira. Mr. Rai said they are certain they have found a suspect and this time they have evidence against him. Although I did not get my hopes up.
It's also been a few weeks since I saw Lord Vulcan, he hasn't even been around in the dreams for a while and No I do not miss him I just wish that he was around here to tell me if he's gotten anywhere with the case. That's all.
As soon as I lie on my bed I find myself in a deep slumber of sleep due to today's exhaustion. In the dream I find myself at a certain dark alley. I sense danger for some reason. I do not know how I ended up in this dream but it certainly feels like I shouldn't be here.
As I'm walking down the alley I hear a grunt. I hide myself behind a dumpster and take a peek at what is going on. There are two people. One in cloak and one in normal clothes. The one in cloak is holding a pendulum in front of the other one and saying something to him which I can not hear but as soon as I am about to get closer I hear a voice I recognize very well. "Gentlemen what's happening here?" It's my Father's voice. What is he doing here? One thing is for sure this isn't my dream. I have accidentally travelled into someone else's dream. The person holding the pendulum tells my Father to leave but he doesn't listen and insists on inquiring what exactly is going on. I fear I know where this is going. Father please turn away. The words are on the tip of my tounge but I must not make myself known for I need to figure out who the person behind the cloak is.
They have a dispute and my Father threatens to inform the police about this. That's when I see the person in cloak snapping and finding the nearest thing he can use to attack which is a metal rod. He tries to attack Father but I scream. "No you can not do that" I shout and both of their attention is turned towards me.
The person who's attacking is faceless which is horrifying to look at. It's like seeing a ghost. I scream seeing his horrible not-a-face at first. "Lord heavens get a face" I shout and he stops whereas my Father is looks at me with pure confusion. "Vera sweetheart what are you doing here? It's extremely dangerous for you. Get out of this place right now. I will deal with this madman" Father says and it appears this is his dream and he doesn't realise that he is dreaming.
Before I can respond the faceless person tries to attack us again and I find the nearest metal rod and drive it through his skull. As I turn around after doing just that my father looks extremely confused but also sort of proud. Oh if only he knew how often I do such things in my dreams.
We are both staring at the body lying down with no face. "Father do you really not remember what he looked like?" I ask and father seems like he is trying to remember. "I do not Vera" He says and I sigh in disappointment. "Although I do remember he had a scar" He says and a vertical scar appears on the person's left eye as if someone cut it through a knife. "That's good, papa do you remember anything else?" I ask and he says "he also had long hair till his neck I suppose" The lying down body grows curly hair till it's neck. That's a good enough description. "Anything else papa?" I ask and he shakes his head. "That's all I can remember Vera" He says and I take his hand in mine "that's good enough Father"
Next day I go to Lord Vulcan's house as soon as I can to let him know about what I have found out through being in my Father's dream last night but unfortunately he isn't there. It is always a pleasure to meet Celeste but she doesn't seem to be present either. The servants offer tea while I wait for Lord Vulcan to arrive. "We expect Lord Vulcan to arrive in half an hour Miss Vera" One of the housekeepers say and I nod.
As I'm waiting I find out a few Novels on a nearby table so I decide to go and take a look. However one of the Novels appears to be in a different language that I do not recognize. Can he read multiple languages? That is fascinating. I look over the Novel and I do not understand a word but it certainly piqued my interest.
"It's in Russian M'lady" I hear Lord Vulcan say and put the Novel down abruptly. "Oh I was just curious so I decided to take a look. You understand Russian?" I ask and he comes forward picking up the book.
"I have been learning it for quite some time now. I can understand it quite good enough" He says and I smile."This one is called 'Prestupléniye i Nakazániye' by Fyodor Dostoevsky" He says and my eyes light up at the mention of the writer's name.
"I have heard of him, people say he's a splendid writer" I say with cheerful tone and he agrees. "Splendid indeed M'lady, a lot of his works are something to be praised for, the fella is certainly going down in history as one of the greatest writers" He says and I nod.
"If only I could also read russian. I heard most of his work isn't available in English yet" I ask and he nods "unfortunately that's true M'lady but you can always learn Russian" He says and I nod.
"Considering your thirst for knowledge, it must intrigue you to learn multiple other languages" He is not wrong I would certainly love to learn a lot more things if we didn't have an attacker on lose to catch. Right I came here to tell him something important.
"I had a dream last night" I say and he puts down the Novel giving me his full attention. "I think I ended up in my Father's dream just like I ended up in yours" His eyebrows furrowed in response to what I said. "Did something happen M'lady?" He asks and I nod. "Father was dreaming about the scenario of when he was attacked" His expression turns more serious with every sentence I say.
"At first I thought maybe I could see the face of the person attacking but it was a faceless person" I say and he makes an understanding expression "which means your father doesn't remember his face at all" He adds and I nod. "I intervened the scenario as he was about to attack Father and drove the rod through his skull like he was planning to do with Papa" He smiles at that. "I'm not surprised M'lady" He says and I wanna smack him playfully but I remember we're having a serious conversation right now.
"Now the good part is papa didn't realise it was a dream and started talking to me so I asked him if he actually didn't remember anything at all and at first he said no but then one of his memory resurfaced and a scar appeared on the body's face. It was a vertical scar on his left eye and the body grew long curly hair till his neck" I explain with every detail I remember.
By the time I end up explaining everything to him he looks desp in thought. "Do you think it's possible that it was an actual description of the person responsible for the attack?" I ask and he looks like he's contemplating what to say next. "M'lady it's certainly possible that it was an actual description but we can not ignore the possibility of it being a meaningless manifestation of his subconscious" He says and I'm sort of disappointed by the second half of his statement.
I certainly had high hopes since that dream and thought that it might be helpful to catch the attacker but I suppose not. It looks like he notices my expression so he tries to say something more comforting "However there is a way to confirm this" He says and I look at him with hopeful eyes yet again. "What that might be?" I ask and he looks like he is hesitant before suggesting whatever he is about to suggest.
"It's okay don't be hesitant, I'm willing to do anything if it means that person will get caught" I say reassuring him and he finally speaks.
"M'lady would you be fine If I attempted hypnosis on your father?"