Preparation for wedding- Part 1

She wondered how many years it had been passed since Samuel and she had sat down properly and spoken to each other. Things had been different and complicated a few years ago. She questioned if it was because she was young and so in love, that she hadn't realised the reality that was coming her way. Lucy removed her shoes that she was wearing to change it to something more comfortable.

Not wanting to stay alone in the room, she decided to walk through the corridors of the castle, which once used to be her home. Lucy was born here. She had spent years before she moved out after her marriage to Duke Samuel, whose father was a minister back then, helping her father.

Her mind travelled to the past when brother Calhoun and Theodore had entered the castle.

"Lady Lucy!" she heard in a distant voice in her memory as she walked alone in the corridor were not many came to venture, "Lady Lucy! Please wear your shoes!"

Lucy turned around in her memory, to look at the maid who was assigned to her by her parents, "The floor is clean. It is alright. I am inside the castle," she replied to the maid.

"It is not about the floor being clean, milady. The Queen, will not be happy if she were to see you without shoes," the maid fretted, her hands carrying the shoes while tailing behind the princess, who padded her feet forward.

"Mother is not here," said Lucy, catching the front of her dress so that she wouldn't step on it, "I heard she had a meeting to attend to along with father. I wonder what it was. They could have taken me too." As she had turned to a young lady, her parents didn't involve her with everything as she was a person who was one day going to be betrothed to another family. They found it to be unnecessary and preferred for her to concentrate on turning herself even prettier.

The maid continued to follow the princess, crossing corridors when they met the King's illegitimate son and his acquaintance. The maid was the first one to bow, and Lucy bowed next to have the two men bow in return.

"Good afternoon, brother Calhoun," Lucy greeted the person who had come to live in the castle.

"Morning," came the uninterested voice from the young man with dark red eyes. Darker than the others who lived in the castle.

Lucy smiled, not minding his short reply, "Are you not going to attend the meeting in the court today?" she asked him.

Lucy smiled again, "I wanted to feel the heat. Today it's warmer than the last few days. Did you know that?" she asked him.

"You can keep your legs in the fire if you're looking for heat," he suggested that had everyone's eyes widen around them. The man behind Calhoun cleared his throat. "Wear your shoes," Calhoun said before walking away from there.

She saw Calhoun leave, but the man who always tagged along with Calhoun, who was walking behind him stayed back to look at her feet. His name was Theodore. He looked up to meet her eyes, through his glasses and said,

"You have beautiful feet, princess. You should wear your shoes if you want to keep them the way they are," after saying this, he bowed his head with a smile and followed Calhoun.

Lucy's cheeks turned pink, and she looked at his back. She then waved her hands to her maids who stood behind her,

"I think I have taken enough of strides with my bare leg. I should wear my shoes now." The man was kinder than the rest of the people whom she had met in the castle. His words made her believe and listen to him.

Getting back to the present, Lucy smiled at the distant memory of it. So much time had passed, and some of the memories still brought a smile while some brought pain. Things had only begun at that time. But her feelings had been brushed away, leaving her heartbroken.

"Lady Lucy," the maid who was walking by, greeted her. Her mother got what she wanted, pushing her to marry the Duke's son so that it would strengthen the ally's of the kingdom. The vampiress continued to walk in the castle. It seemed like after the event that took place in the forest, everyone had retired to their rooms to rest.

Samuel had told her that he was going to the court, which meant even others would be there. And by others she meant Theodore. She was angry at him, and she despised the man. She didn't know why Calhoun had sent Theodore with her and Sophie when he was aware of their dynamics. Sometimes it was easier to hate than continue to suffer in pain in the name of love, Lucy thought to herself.

She was walking in another corridor when she noticed the last person she wanted to see coming from the other direction. Not looking at him, she continued to walk while feeling Theodore's gaze on her. When they were about to pass each other, Theodore bowed his head.

"Good afternoon, milady."

"Hm," she responded. She had walked freely because she thought he was occupied in the court. Why did he have to walk in this corridor out of all of them in the castle.

"I didn't get to speak to you during your last visit," said Theodore, "How are you doing, milady? The Duke seems to dote on you," that was because it was what Samuel wanted and make people to believe and Lucy went along with it. Being the former King's daughter, she might have been naive, but she was still a prideful vampiress.

"I am doing very good," she answered. The last time, it was only her who had spoken to him before getting into her carriage, "Yes, that is to be expected. He is my husband. Who else will dote on me?" she asked, raising her brow to see Theodore offer her a smile.

When he smiled, Lucy didn't like it. She felt irritated and annoyed. She remembered the old times before her marriage was announced in the castle, "What are you doing by roaming here, instead of being in the court?" she demanded from him.

"Court?" asked Theodore.

"Yes," she nodded her head, "Isn't there a meeting in there for you to join?"

Theodore smiled again, "As far as I am aware, there's no meeting going on in the court right now," he then bowed his head to walk past her. Lucy furrowed her brows. Why did Samuel tell he was going to attend the meeting when there wasn't one? She stood there in the corridor alone. Where did Samuel go if it wasn't for court?

Not wanting to venture any more than she already had, Lucy went back to her room to spend the rest of the day by herself, alone in there.

Far away from the castle, where the village of East Carswell was situated the Harris' family were having their shop rebuilt again. By their knowledge, they believed it was the King of Devon who had torn it down. Right now the man named Markus Wilmot was helping them to rebuild it.

Mrs. Harris, who was in the house, spoke to her husband, "Why would the King do something like that? It is hard to believe that he would do it. He is marrying our daughter."

The older man sighed. He walked with his coat in his hand, to hang it on the stand, "I don't understand myself. I haven't seen both the men since the shop was broken down." He had the same doubt as his wife. The King had been generous enough to provide them with a shop, a gift for marrying his daughter Madeline but only to take it away before marriage.

"We should probably ask Madeline when we meet her. She might know what happened," Mrs. Harris suggested to her husband.

Mr. Harris waved his hand, "No, don't. We don't know what upset the King. The young Wilmot boy said it might be something that happened in the past. Did Madeline say something about it to you?" he asked his wife.

Mrs. Harris wondered if the King was still upset about what she had written in the note to Madeline. When he had arrived with her daughter here in the house, she had thought that he had forgiven her, but she should have known that he was not happy with it. Maybe it was best not to bring it up, the woman thought to herself.

Then they heard the sound of the gate. Mrs. Harris walked towards the front door and saw her daughter Beth with the person who had helped them in rebuilding the shop and had taken a liking towards Beth. Beth bowed her head, and the man did the same. His eyes fell on Mrs. Harrish, offering a bow to her and Mrs. Harris bowed.

"Mr. Wilmot wanted to make sure I returned home safe. Isn't he kind, mama?" asked Beth when she reached the door. Beth turned around to see Mr. Wilmot get on his carriage and leave.

"Indeed," answered her mother. It wasn't everyday people came out of the way to help someone. Especially when her family had nothing to offer in return, and it made Mrs. Harris frown. Their elder daughter Elizabeth was a beautiful girl, and many men came to ask for her hand in marriage, but Mr. Wilmot appeared to be too good to be true.

Beth leaned forward and kissed her mother's cheek before getting inside.

Mrs. Harris had heard from Beth, on how the man had proposed for a possible marriage between her. Ill rumours about Beth had started to circulate since the King had announced his marriage to Madeline. Like Madeline, Mrs. Harris had come to accept her younger daughter's marriage as it looked inevitable to avoid the situation. But being the mother of two daughters, she had to make sure that both the girls were well settled.

When Mrs. Harris was about to close the door as there was no more person to come in, she heard the sound of the gate again.

Peeking out, she saw it was a man with glasses who made his way inside who carried a stack of envelopes in his hands. He bowed his head deep down, and Mrs. Harris did the same.

"Mrs. Harris. The King, has sent me here to deliver the invitations. Where shall I keep it?" asked the man.

"I will take it," Mrs. Harris offered to take hold of the many invitations that were stacked together, "So many?" she asked. In the village, people usually used word of mouth to announce and pass on the invitation.

"The King said it is for your use. You can send it out to your relatives, friends and people you would like to invite to the wedding," on hearing the man's word, Mrs. Harris' eyebrows shot up. Was the King okay in inviting their relatives? With the way things had gone down, she was sure that they would be the only ones attending the wedding, "The King has also asked you to make your presence in the castle as soon as you can."

Mrs. Harris nodded her head, "We'll be arriving there in two days. Something just came up."

The man stared at Lady Madeline's mother, waiting for her to elaborate, but she didn't. He offered the lady another smile before bowing his head, "Have a good day, milady."

"You too, Sir," replied Mrs. Harris, who continued to stand at the front door for a while before turning back to head inside the house.

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