ILLECEBROUS

Chapter 4.1: Welcome to our family

CHAPTER 4

THE Fête

Every 10 years, the kingdom of Bonheur celebrates a feast called fête to thank their ancestors. The streets are filled with colorful lanterns while the houses are decorated with paper flowers and banners.

During this feast, all of the citizens are handed out a bag of silver from the palace to serve as a 'Thank you' gift, for the imperial family believes that the people build the kingdom, without them, a kingdom can never be truly prosperous.

On the other hand, all of the nobles in the kingdom are required to attend a party organized by one of the 6 powerhouses of Bonheur.

They all gather together as a formality since they believe that Bonheur was established through the sheer efforts of everyone in the higher-ranks.

RAINSWORTH HOUSEHOLD

This year, the Rainsworth household was responsible for hosting the fête.

Since most of the powerful families in Bonheur will be arriving at the estate tonight. Every servant at the manor is currently engaged in their own tasks, hoping to finish all the preparations in a jiffy.

Since all of the servants are currently in a panicked state; no one noticed the arrival of Katherine and Elliot from school.

Elliot grabbed Katherine's tiny hands as he led her to the kitchen. There they saw Macey ordering a set of maids left and right.

After a few minutes, Macey noticed Katherine and Elliot standing at the kitchen's doorway. She immediately removed her apron and washed her hands before approaching the two kids to give them a warm hug.

"Welcome Home Lady Katherine, has my Elliot been taking care of you well?"

Katherine nodded, a huge smile plastered in her pretty face.

Seeing the girl's expression, Elliot inwardly felt proud of himself. 'Of course I'll take care of her to the utmost of my capability!'.

"That's good to hear, I will instruct one of the maids to help you dress up for tonight's party. There's still quite some time, so why don't you two head to the garden and play for a while?"

Elliot and Katherine nodded in unison. When they arrived at the garden, they ran towards the biggest fountain and sat at the side as they watch the school of peacock cichlid (fish) swimming around.

"Are you excited for the party later, Kath?" Elliot questioned as he tilts his head.

Katherine nodded, this was the first time she saw the mansion filled with life, she was even confused to see so many servants, she thought they only had 30 at most, but today she could roughly estimate that they're actually about a hundred. 'Where have they been hiding all this time?' she thought to herself.

Everything felt surreal for her. The usually gloomy estate was suddenly so lively, every lights are lit up, the garden was filled with colorful banners and the black roses are currently illuminated. 'I wish everyday could be the fête'.

Elliot noticed her dazed expression; he could roughly guess what was on Katherine's mind. He inwardly sighed as he held Katherine's hands tightly.

"I heard all the elite people in Bonheur will be attending tonight's fête, which means your friends might be here as well, you can give them a tour of the mansion and play at your room" Elliot tried initiating a conversation since Katherine has been quiet ever since they arrived at the mansion.

Elliot saw that she didn't respond so he stared at her for a few seconds before placing his forehead to hers. His eyes were closed but Katherine's sapphire colored orbs turned big from surprise to Elliot's intimate action.

Their faces were only a few inches apart and with this realization, Katherine started blushing profusely, her face turned as red as her hair.

"What's wrong Kath?" Elliot asked worriedly when he saw her red face. "Do you have a fever?"

"No... No I don't". Her face slowly turned normal after remembering her worries. She closed her eyes and lightly sighed. "Elli I'm nervous, a lot of people will enter our home for the first time, what if I do something that would make Father angry again?"

Elliot chuckled as he cupped her beautiful, tiny face while their faces are still just a couple of inches apart. "You won't have to worry about anything Kath, I will stay by your side all throughout tonight's party so you just have to enjoy it thoroughly".

They stared at each other's eyes before smiling affectionately to one another.

Katherine held out her pinky and teasingly pouted "Promise?".

Elliot finally separated their foreheads before intertwining his pinky to hers. "I promise"

When sunset arrived, the two decided to return to the mansion to start preparing themselves for tonight's party.

Katherine returned to her room; there she saw two maids standing outside the door waiting for her, when she entered her room, she saw a set of dresses laid on the bed, after a long contemplation, she chose a white, long sleeved dress filled with butterfly prints.

She wore a simple dress with only a pearl earring as an accessory but her little figure demands attention just by simply standing. Definitely a woman born from the Rainsworth blood. A household built by generations of beautiful, strong and independent women.

As time passed by, people started flocking towards the estate by the time the sun vanished.

The first ones to arrive was the Aguirres'. Followed by a few governors from various cities.

The Verrone's and Reynalds arrived at the same time while the Royal Family, the Ravenwoods, arrived last.

Everyone was having a fill of the delicious food served, some socialites were mingling at the corner and a few were gambling.

Seated at the furthest table, 2 kids were sitting, arms across their chests. The girl looked sad while the boy looked like an aggrieved daughter-in-law.

Elliot walked towards them whilst carrying a full plate of desserts on both hands. "Lord Christopher, Lady Katherine, tonight's party is still young yet you two are already sulking here". The two simultaneously stared at Elliot while pouting which made the poor guy helpless. 'They're venting their frustrations to me! Lady Veronica please come soon!' he inwardly cries.

Elliot sighed deeply as he placed the plates in front of them. He sat beside Katherine and took a piece of the cake before feeding it to her. She was reluctant to be fed at first but she couldn't say no to her Elli.

Seeing Katherine eat the cake obediently, his heart was instantly filled with content. "Lady Vaeronica, was probably held back due to important matters at home, she might arrive later on, so let's continue waiting for a while more ok?".

"She said she'll definitely go and play with us, but she's still not here, the party started a long time ago" Christopher said grumpily before grabbing a chocolate cupcake.

Just as he finished his piece, they heard a couple of madames beside them gossip.

"Have you heard what happened at the Landsdrake household?"

"Not yet, did a big matter happen? They haven't arrived at the party yet"

"They probably won't be attending today, Lord Richmond's wife is ill again"

"How many time has it been this month? Tsk tsk her body is to weak, can she really support Lord Richmond in managing the household?"

Hearing their conversation, the three kids looked at each other.

Katherine's face was suddenly filled with worry, Christopher on the other hand felt guilty with his earlier statement, he's now internally hoping that everything will be okay for Veronica and her family.

The party continued but up until the end the Lansdrake's weren't able to arrive, this made the nobles with a lot of time in their hands, to gossip about the said household.