Darling. (Erik/Phantom x Reader)

Two.

Winchester Castle House of the Duke 

***

If there was anything her father was extremely good at, it was worrying about her. 

Not even four days since they had agreed to the audition and their home was a frequent frenzy of businesspeople and homemakers getting her things in order. Of course, her home was never quite still, as men came from all over to do business with her father. He was the top consultant to the monarch in terms how money was distributed for public works, which made him an incredibly important man. Their manor constantly had Londoners and Oxford men about it, waiting for a private audience with the great Arthur, Duke of Winchester -- more affectionately known as 'Papa'. 

But now, maids and cooks and accountants and dressmakers were all about the halls, packing trunks for her. She thought it was more than a bit much, considering the fact that she had not yet gotten the role. 

It was early in the morning, too. She had just awoken, still in her dressing gown, when she went looking for her father. In these past four days, he had been so busy settling her affairs that she had barely seen him or  Charles, and was missing them. After walking around the many familiar grand hallways of her home, she found him in his study with Charles and two other men, hunched over a series of open books on his desk. She could tell they were Londoners by their pristinely ironed clothes and navy blue adornments -- much too flashy for a man of academia in Oxford. 

She hesitantly knocked on the door frame, causing Charles and her father to each look up at her simultaneously.

"Teddy!" Her father greeted, pushing up his reading glasses which had slipped down his nose, "Up early today, are we?" 

Y/N gave a weak smile to the two unfamiliar gentleman, who seemed unnerved at her casual appearance. "Father, you did not inform me we would be hosting such a large number of people today. I came to inquire about a few things." 

"Oh, that is my fault unfortunately," He said, a frown on his lips, "Charles, be a sport and attend to Y/N for the morning on my behalf? I must finish discussing the reconstruction of this bridge."

"It would be an honor," Charles bowed slightly. Y/N giggled at him, finding his forced politeness in the presence of formal company to be a hoot. He sent her a warning glare, silencing her until he exited the room and shut the door. 

"Oh, my good grace," Y/N fake curtsied as she continued to tease her friend, "Will you do me the great honor of escorting me to my chambers?"

Charles shook his head with an annoyed smile, "What did you want, Teddy?"

"Company!" She whisper-yelled, "You and Papa have been in that study making preparations for the past four days, and I have been stowed away in my bedroom panicking about moving to France for a role I may not be ready for! Not to mention the fact that if I do get the role, I will not see you for weeks." 

Charles put his hands on her shoulders, holding her jittery and anxious self in place, as if to ground her. "Come on, let's go for a cup of tea."

***

Y/N stared with a mix of shock, horror, and admiration at the fleet her father had gathered. Seven horse-drawn carriages sat on the cobblestone driveway in front of her home, each with two horses, a driver, and a member of her family's security team. 

"Charles... I think he's lost it," Y/N whispered to him, who stood beside her in his finest long coat -- a deep navy with white embroidery. She liked navy on him, for it made his brown hair look nearly bronze.