Call Me Eden [ON HOLD]

Six

The next morning I woke up with the same sunshine on my face. I was about to get up instantly knowing I was late to breakfast, but I realized I wasn't in school anymore; I was in the duke's residence. I should have known the instant I woke up, it wasn't the sun that was shining, it was the polished tiles on the side of the room, the sun shined on the tile for it to reflect the transfer onto my face.

I got up, feeling strange and weird. This wasn't the first time. I was already still uncomfortable about last night, when I and William were driven here in a luxurious car alone. The silence was unbearable. I so badly wanted to apologize and tell him the truth. But what good would it do? I can even find better excuses rather than that stupid truth. But I didn't want to lie to him again. He deserved much better. William didn't look comfortable too, in fact I felt like I was in the car with a stranger, like we were already enemies, waiting for each other to be pounded upon.

I turned off the shower and curled the towel around myself. As I looked in the mirror, I saw a thinner girl, I haven't even ate since the last time I was in school. But I had the same grey eyes and the same wavy red hair. It's still me, but me alone. I have to fight this for myself now. No matter how much I gathered the strength to convince Ethan not to stop it now. But I probably knew he needed some privacy and think about what he made me feel the moment he decided to give up. I needed him to know how much I want this plan to work.

The gowns were beautiful, the most beautiful I've ever seen. Last night when I first came, they saved my gown, the one I worn to The Collection. They said it was a tradition, almost like taking pictures for memory making. But I didn't want to remember bad memories. I didn't want that gown to remind me of killing Martha.

The maids helped me put it on. I had convinced them somehow that I wanted to dress and shower by myself. But by the end I couldn't get the laces of my night gown at the back, who knew it would be hard to put on a night gown for a future princess. No. Erase that. My plan would already be finished before the marriage, in three months' time. I will stick to the plan me and Ethan worked on before he gave up on me.

The future is in my hands, me alone.

Three equal lengthened knocks came at the door. "Ma'am, your breakfast is ready. The duke awaits you." The maid, Dana, says. Dana is just like Anna, the same worshiping type.

I nod at her. Knowing my voice will sound hoarse if I speak, due to the tears I've shed. For mostly everything that happened last night: Martha, William then Ethan.

Dana shuts the door lightly and I hear the footsteps as she leaves down the swirled stairs that almost made me dizzy by the time I reach downstairs.

I decide to wear a simple gown. Not the ruffled up gowns, or the ones which make me seem curvier or the ones which expose me inappropriately. Fortunately their all my size, so I pick the one at the floor of the huge sized wardrobe. It wasn't ruffled or showing exposure and most importantly, it looked comfortable. Gowns are an important part in my situation, if you don't believe me, then answer me how in the world can you save the lives of people with an uncomfortable gown?

After a while of trying to find the dining room, which took me twenty minutes to find, I slid in the luxurious double doors I found it. The dining room was beautiful, irreplaceable and shiny. As I walk inside the duke sits at the front of the large rectangular table. William sits at the side, alone, but he was in the closest chair to the duke's, and there sat his four impossibly beautiful wives on the other side. But there was one extra, one who was my age. The one I went to school with, sitting on the closest chair to the duke with the other wives.

Sophie.

My face must have looked horrified when I saw the duke show a puzzled expression. "Is something the matter, dear?" William doesn't look up to see the situation; he just continues swirling his spoon around the plate, expressionless.