𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐄 𝐀𝐌𝐄 | 𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬

32. the archambeau family

BELLE ÂME

vol.3

32. the archambeau family

[ Lyon, France, May 1st, 1832 ]

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As the carriage continued moving, Paris began to fade, leaving the view of trees and houses that Annette had never seen before. The carriage had been plagued with silence as it moved along the streets, Annette looking out the window silently, refusing to utter a single word.

"Annette" she heard her aunt say, making her roll her eyes before turning to face her "I hope that you know, I am not the villain of this story"

"Then who is?" Annette asked quietly, seeing as her aunt took a deep breath, trying to keep herself calm.

"I will not be disrespected Annette, you might have a perfect image of your mother and father, but they raised you to be a woman of society, and that is what I intend to do, prepare you for the world. Honestly Annette, do you really believe that you can live with your brother forever?"

"Do not bring my parents into this" the girl replied forcefully "you barely knew them"

"I grew up with your mother young lady, and you can say whatever you want, but you were born into this role, all I'm doing is getting you ready for it" her Aunt Monique spoke harshly.

Annette felt the words get stuck in her throat, coming to the conclusion that nothing she said would help her situation, she just nodded her head and looked forwards, deciding to save her energy for the days to come.

She felt her aunts hand slowly come to hold her own, squeezing it slightly before Monique retracted it. Annette felt disgusted at the whole situation, she could not believe that this was happening to her, and she knew exactly what her aunt was doing, she was trying to play nice so that she could manipulate her better, but Annette would not be broken, she would stand her ground until her brother got her out of there.

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A few hours had passed, with silence mostly instilled in the air, only a few conversations here and there, Aunt Monique asking Annette about her childhood and her time with Chantal, Annette answered all the questions, albeit she was not very enthusiastic.

The view of trees began to disappear as the sun started to set, leaving an orange hue painting the sky and casting a warm glow upon the faces of both women that were seated in the carriage. As they began to inch closer to their destination, Annette saw that houses began to come into view, however they were not luxurious, in fact, they were the exact opposite.

Annette looked at the scene surrounding her to see that the people around her were all wearing ragged clothes, their faces seeming to have lost all signs of life as they walked around looking miserable, she realized that they reminded her of the people of Saint Michel.