Heiress in Distress

•Chapter 19: Part 1•

As much as I want to know what's going on with her, I reckoned it's better to give her the space she needs before jumping on her with the questions and need for explanation.

Besides, taking Élise to meet Herr Bastian and Frau Marlene has been high on the agenda, so I took the opportunity of Clara's absence to make the trip to Colmar.
I haven't told Clara about it yet, owing to our scarce time between my school work and training, and her babysitting Élise and online job as a translator.

Whenever the opportunity for a repose from our merciless schedules comes to light, we spend our time together doing something a normal family of three would do.
Baking a cake, binge-watching barbie or disney movies with Élise, or strolling through the local park.

Eyes wide while looking out the window, mouth curved in an 'O' shape every time we pass into a tunnel, endless waterfalls of drool dripping down her chin, Élise looked uncommonly excited the whole drive here.

I'm not surprised when she lets out a deafening squeal of excitement the second the cab's tyres screeches its halt by the iron gates.
And I'm definitely not surprised at the greeting Élise got from our maintenance family; a teary welcoming from Frau Marlene -of course- a warm embrace from Herr Bastian and a toss in the air from Aurick, who was rewarded by a painful tug to his beard.

"She looks so much like Ruba" Frau Marlene comments absent-mindedly, her eyes glazed over with nostalgia whilst assessing Élise.

At the mention of my mother, a thick, peppery lump stretches across my tight throat, burning with each swallow.
And the fact that Élise indeed looks so much like my mother makes it difficult to hold the tears back, despite the drilling in my mind to never cry in front of Élise -or anyone for that matter- whenever my parents are mentioned.

Someone places their hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently in reassurance. When I look over, Herr Bastian gives an understanding nod before leaning in and placing a kiss to my head.
The gesture is enough to bring the fragile dam down for the tears to freely stream down my face.

"I miss them" I whisper, my shoulders shaking with the weakening composure. My eyes squeeze shut at the painful images of my mother with Frau Marlene in the kitchen, cooking together -a regular sight in our residence.
A particularly recent memory portrays my heavily pregnant mother standing by the kitchen island head tilted back in laughter as Frau Marlene bends slightly to talk to my mother's bump.

Standing erect becomes difficult as my knees threaten to give out any second, so I squat down, covering my face with my hands.
It only now occurs to me why none of them mentioned my parents the first time I visited, knowing the shared tragic memory would paint our reunion black.

Even when Herr Bastian mentioned the fortune, he made sure to keep the subject shallow, focusing on the heritable aspect of the issue. And the expected confusion that ensued sufficed to direct the conversation away from the reality of their absence to the questionability of their decision to hide such important details from me.

I hear knees faintly cracking and a pair of jeans sighing softly when someone bends down next me on the floor.

"Lily" Aurick calls gently, brushing the hair out of my face.

Sniffling, I hum in acknowledgement. There's a pause after that, forcing me to lift my head, thinking he needs my full attention.

He stares at me unwaveringly, eyes focused and expression stern,
"How did you get here the first time ?"

My brows slam down in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"The first time when you came here; how did you get to this address ?"