Beloved

Chp. 57

Khael

What she liked and disliked wasn't as clear to me especially because she was silent about it. I'm sure there were things she didn't want to but were forced to do as a lady of the Pensingtons. Even so, there must've been something she liked back in Roem...

Whenever possible, I tried to take notice of the smallest details. Simple things like the slight changes of her facial expressions, gestures, and habits hoping they would reflect a part of her.

Women liked things that were beautiful and delicate. Dresses, necklaces, charms, anything that held detail and color. Although Lilith showed little interest in these things, it didn't change the fact that I wanted her to have them all. If only I could see her smile once more...

I hoped my senses were right and this would do the trick. She looked up to me as I held her chin in place.

"Come with me. There's something I want to show you."

Lilith

Was it really okay for him to move like this? How long has it been since we returned? These questions roamed my mind as I followed behind him. I was worried for him but again those hopeful eyes expected me to say yes. Surely, he knew what he was doing. Those eyes never failed to move my heart.

His broad back faced me as I followed behind him. My eyes traveled down to his large hand that gripped onto mine tightly. I gave it a slight squeeze, wondering if he would look back.

I was curious as to what the reason was that had him smile as we walked forward. We avoided the eyes of the workers and the maids near our room. It was quite early in the morning so there weren't many people we passed. Those that took notice of us, bowed their heads and greeted a good morning.

His steps were usually larger than mine but he matched my pace today. We were lucky that the weather was in our favor. The morning breeze wasn't as cold as I thought but I still brought a shawl just in case. Laurdes always told me a woman should always keep her body warm.

Laurdes...oh I missed her.

"Be careful."

I wasn't paying attention until he pointed out to me. From here on, the path started to disappear and there were flat rocks that served as steps. There were also patches of green closing in on us. I had never been up this hill before. There were still some places I did not get to explore with such leisure. This place was one of them.

His steps started to slow and eventually stopped in front of a tree branch that hovered over our path. He looked back at me and told me this was the place. When he pushed back the branches, my eyes widened at the sight unfolding in front of me.

We were at the highest point of this hill, facing the village. What held my attention was the bed of flowers that laid in front of it all. The large tree beside us provided such perfect shade. It brought such calm and peace to this morning. The sunbeams were nothing overwhelming as the sky held both darkness and light. I couldn't help but close my eyes for a brief moment as the gentle wind breezed past my shoulders.

"There's not much flowers here in Draylum. But they grow the most here around this time. It's nothing to compare to the ones you've seen in Roem but I wanted to show you."

The gardens in Roem were most famous in the spring but I never got the chance to walk along the paths. Luckily we had a grand yard where mother used to have her flowers. She gave such care to them when she was younger but after she passed away the flowers had also faded.

"T-This place is beautiful. I-It's like a s-secret room."

"No one ever comes here. Well, I think they've noticed I come here often and purposely avoid it. It's become my secret room unintentionally."