Ella and y/n were friends since Ella moved with her parents to the house next to y/n's. Y/n's parents weren't very present in her life, they were always in high society parties or busy with some kind of work, so she passed all days in Ella's house...
The week has passed in the blink of an eye and suddenly it's the weekend. It's 5pm and Imelda is helping me getting ready for the party my parents had been waiting so eagerly for "Y/n, you don't need to choose a man to marry this night, nor in other one, but relish it, look for something that catches your eye and entertain yourself with it, create good memories. You know I'll be always by your side." Imelda says with a glint in her eyes, she is the mother I wish I had, I have a great fondness for her, so I embrace her tight and bury my face on the crook of her neck "I always heard that mother is not the one who gives birth to a child, but the one who raises them." I say tightening my grip on her and I hear sobbing, concern fills me and I let go of her, looking at her face I see a big smile and rosy cheeks with fresh tears running down them "Maman are you alright?" I ask softly, she lets out a breathless laugh and wipes her tears "I'm more than alright. You are the best thing in my whole life, you are my world, Ma Petite Fleur." she sais caressing my cheek, tears blur my vision and I start to laugh "Oh no! Don't cry love, we just finished your makeup!" she says whipping her own tears and laughing, my heart is the most warm it has ever been, I will cherish this moment forever.
Some time has passed and when I was setting my earrings on the small hole on my ear, mother cames in, Imelda was giving the last touches to my hair when mother's sharp voice echoes through the room "Amelia you're needed in the kitchen." her voice is cold and sharp, she doesn't relish Imelda that much, maybe she's resentful for our bond "Yes, Lady y/l/n." Imelda gives me a comforting smile and squeezes my shoulder before leaving "Mother, her name's Im-" I try to tell her, but to no avail, for she interrupts me "The guests are arriving, we need to welcome them, come along." she says and walks out, I stand up and glance at my reflection one last time, the dress fits me perfectly, the colours of it representing my family, white and dark green, softly smiling I caress the pendant that is always on my neck.
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Closing my eyes I imagine a certain woman behind me, her arms around my waist and her head resting on my shoulder, her deep raspy voice whispering comforting words on my ear, my body begins to lay back, relaxing on her arms, feeling the lack of touch I open my eyes, it was a simple and pure illusion of my mind, nothing more than an extension of my imagination. I recompose myself and walk out of my room and down the stairs, mother and father are waiting next to the front door, father looks up and sees me "You look astonishing, my darling." he says getting closer to the end of the stairs, a shiver runs down my spine, but I ignore it "Merci, that is very kind of you." I say ignoring the nauseous feeling on the pit of my stomach, as I step down from the bottom step he places his hand on the small of my back, my body gets rigid from the sudden contact, we approach mother and he leaves to her other side, taking his hand off, thankfully.
Guests start entering through the open door and we welcome them, even Mrs. Allard and her husband came, they're not high nobility, but they're very highly known, mostly for her classes, I wonder if she does the same punishment to others. They walk in greeting my parents and then it's my turn, they get in front of me and, even if my face hurts from the forced smile I've been doing, I politely greet them "Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Allard, welcome." the rigid woman smiles, I have never seen her smile before "Good evening, Miss y/l/n. You look lovely." she compliments me, I was surprised by those words coming out of her mouth in an almost sweet tone "Why thank you, I appreciate it." my words go out almost as venom was laced in them, but my always calming and sweet voice cloak it and off they go smiling.
We've been welcoming gests for almost twenty minutes, but what I was certainly not prepared to welcome in the next guest. My eyes were gazing through the crowd forming on our big living room when the voice I longed to hear since that day reaches my hearing field, my head turns to the voice source and there she is, wonderful as always. Unfortunately her daughters came too and my parents greeted them first, the girls were smiling from ear to ear until reaching me, the smiles fade realising how awful they were towards me, the daughter of a Marquis and a Marquise, guilty must be what they're experiencing in this moment "Good evening, Misses, glad you came, welcome." I say holding the urge to laugh at their disbelief expressions, understanding they didn't know how to react I intervien "Are you alright? Do you need a glass of water?" they're expressions change back to the wide smiles "Oh no, thank you so much, we are alright. The pleasure is all ours, we're very grateful to be here." Anastasia says while Drizella nods her head, I give them a wink and a soft smile, I can visibly see them relaxing while walking away.
Next thing I know she is in front of me, the time stops when our eyes meet, her expression is similar to her daughters for a short second "Good evening, Lady Tremaine, it's wonderful having you here, welcome." I say feeling my checks warming under this breathtaking woman gaze, noticing the colour my cheeks are turning a smirk appears on her lips "Good evening, Miss y/l/n. Thank you, but the pleasure is all mine." her voice gets a tone deeper and her eyes don't leave mine for a second, goosebumps run through all my body and unconsciously I bite my underlip, her eyes look down to my lips, making her smirk turn into a grin while walking away, my gaze follows her perfect figure until disappearing into the crowd.
"Good, everyone has arrived." father affirms "Y/n, come along, I will acquaintance you to some potencial pretenders." mother says narrowing her eyes trying to provoke a reaction from me "It will be my pleasure, please, lead the way." I say softly forcing a smile, mother interlocks our arms and begins to walk, with no other option, I accompany her to the concentration of people in front of us.
Mother has already introduced me to seven young men, they're all very charming, but not my kind. Out of nowhere I'm, one more time, in front of a young man, his appearance is exceptional, green eyes, medium brownish hair, tanned and his clothes very neat and formal, he must have a very high standard, looking in mother's direction I see her eyes glinting as she contemplate the young man, this is not a good sign... for me.
"You must be Lady y/n. Let me introduce myself, Théodore Archambeau, Duke of Lyon, it is a pleasure to meet you." he introduces himself while grabbing my hand, slowly bringing it to his mouth for a soft kiss, his eyes don't leave mine during the polite gesture "The pleasure is all mine." I say glancing at mother who is with a satisfied expression towards our interaction. Théodore shift to mother's direction greeting her, he's very polite, but I can't cease thinking something's strange about him.
The young man spends some time socializing with mother until she excuses herself, leaving the two of us alone "Your mother mentioned that you are in search of a pretender." my jaw clenches "Indeed, I am." I say looking around, trying to catch sight of a certain redhead when a sudden hand grabs me by the waist making me jump a little, my eyes widen and my heartbeat soars "You're very beautiful y/n, I would be delighted to be your chosen one." Théodore whispers near my ear, fear consumes my body making me motionless which causes Théodore to swiftly turn me around so I'm face to face with him, his body pressed against mine, panic coursing through my body "Théodore, please-" I try to appeal for him to let me go, but he talks over me "Don't say you don't want me, you saw how your mother was looking at me." tears start to cloud my vision "You don't want to displease your mother, do you now?" calmly trying to get him to let go of me for not bring any attention towards us, a voice sounds from behind me "Is everything alright?" Théodore smoothly places me on his side, looking through my tears at the person who mercifully interrupted our interaction I see her "Yes, Madame, everything's alright." Théodore answers her, she looks at his hand on my waist, then at my helpless face and back at him, if looks could kill "Can I steal y/n for a brief moment? I need her to accompany me to somewhere else." Théodore face changes to an angry and confused expression which causes my panic and fear to raise even more "Can't you bring someone else with you?" he asks rudely "I beg your pardon? I wish to talk with y/n in private, is there any problem with that young man?" she says sharply raising her voice a little, he lets go of me and next thing I know I'm being dragged out of there by the woman my heart belongs to, our hands interlocked, her grip is strong as if she didn't want to lose me, as if she didn't want to let me go.
×××× Hey! I know... Cliff hanger, but this chapter was getting so long haha and I like to make suspense Xd Hope you like this chapter as well, see you in the next one hehe
