After years (since the first season of Bridgerton came out) of thinking if I should watch Bridgerton, I was finally convinced to do so when I saw the hype of the second season.
Because of that, my mind is occupied by three things: job applications, the Bastards, and Bridgerton, rather the Regency Era. And I have been writing scenes of thr Bastards (with Harry Potter magic) being in Bridgerton (Regency Era)
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Dearest reader, we have been graced by not one but three Bastards this season...
"Carina!" Roman's voice boomed in the ballroom, overpowering the music being played and the chatters of the crowd. Beyond the sea of mothers and daughters and single gentlemen looking for a wife, Carina saw the familiar curly red hair jumping for her to see, and a large hand waving above the heads.
Not bothering to tell her uncle, Carina ran across the room and met Roman halfway. Seeing Roman again, she no longer held the proper smile that she practiced for years and was now grinning ear to ear. All manners were thrown out the window as she jumped to Roman's arms and engulfed him to an embrace, twirling her around before settling her down again. There was no doubt that everyone wad looking at them with scrutiny and eager to make gossip but that did not matter to Carina.
"Gods, you've grown! I remember being taller than you," Carina said. She hooked her arm around his and walk towards the beverages. "You must tell me about your travels. Where did you go?"
"A lot of places. I don't know where to start!" Roman poured them both a glass of lemonade. "And I don't think this is the right setting to talk of such things," he winked suggestively.
Carina lightly hit him on the shoulder, luckily Roman had a good hold on their drinks and did not spill a drop of lemonade.
Handing her a glass, he said, "I wasn't alone in my travels. I came across an old friend of ours from our university days."
"And who is this old friend of ours that you can't stop grinning about?"
"I believe it's best you meet him yourself, I'm sure you would be happy to see him again... I know he is."
"Is it Cedric?" She raised a brow. "He went on a tour as well, a year after you left, there has been talk that he's back as well."
Just on cue, a gasps were heard from the mothers and daughters in the ballroom. It was as if it were a cue as Roman took Carina's arm again and led her through the crowd that gathered at the entrance. Squeezing through the mothers and daughters, they finally came to the front and saw the cause for such reaction.
"You do have a way to make an entrance, Theodore," Roman said.
Theodore sighed. "I wasn't planning to, but this bloke made a huge fuss in introducing me." He gestured to the man by the door.
"I'm sure you remember Carina."
Theodore's gaze finally came to Carina. Time went still as they met each other's gaze, and it felt to have gone slow as Theodore took her hand and pressed a kiss on her knuckles.
"How can I forget Carina Black, the girl who just knocked out the Prince at her first ball."
He just have to open his mouth, Carina thought, and immediately the awe on her face turned sour as the scandal five years ago has resurfaced, and now mothers and daughters and single men were gossiping and laughing.
"Why is it that whenever you're here my life can't find any sort of peace, Lord Nott?" Carina asked.
"Drop the Lord, Black, I'm sure you've heard the rumors," Theodore joined their side as they walked through the gawking and gossiping crowd.
~Roman: In the Tombs~
*note: this is inspired from Downton Abbey the Movie*
He was in important dinner, in fact, but he couldn't sit there and finish the meal, knowing whar has happened to Roman. Woth no carriage or car or horse, he had to ask Carina to borrow her family carriage, and scandalously ask her come as well to the Tombs to retrieve their friend.
Carina was stopped by the guards from entering the Tombs, so she reluctantly have to wait in the carriage and gave Theodore thr money needed for Roman's bail.
Entering the filthy prison, Theodore was led by the guard to the cell. He found Roman sitting on the ground covered with bruises and the filth of thr cell -- mud, human excrements.
"If I may offer an advice, Sir. But freeing him would cause you trouble --" said the Guard.
"And I believe that I never asked for your advice, Sir. Now, if you please, open the cell and leave to work on the papers for his release. And give me a moment with him."
The guard glared at his way, buy dipped his head, removed the enchantments to unlock the cell, and left.
Alone, Theodore entered the cell, not minding the mud and shit that ruined his boots. He stood there in silence looking at Roman, who has yet to acknowledge him. It took a full minute before one of them spoke.
"I'm sorry," Roman whispered. "I'm so sorry."
"I know."
Roman finally looked up, and Theodore saw tha damage done. His perfect nose was now broken, crooked. His left eye swelling and bruised. Multiple cuts were found at his handsome face. It was pitiful to watch him like this, something that he never once felt for him.
"Get up, they should be ready with your papers." Theodore held out his hand to Roman.
Roman looked at him then at his hand, a sob broke from his throat. Taking Theodore's hand, he got up and cried on his shoulder, repeating over and over his apology.
Theodore patted him on the back and said with all sincerity. "It's all right."
Leaving the Tombs, Roman hung his head low but when they came to the sight of the guards, Theodore told him keep his head high to not give them the satisfaction of his humiliation. Though he wanted nothing more than to crawl in bed and hide, Roman held his head high with his the face he always wore in gambling dens and walked on.
Exiting the horrid prison, Roman was in shock to find the familiar black and silver carriage parked at the side, and even more when Carina jumped out and ran to embrace him.
"Roman!" She spoke. "I was so worried about you."
"What are you doing here?" He asked. "You shouldn't be here and hugging me --“
“Without a chaperone? Don't worry, Draco is with me. He's my chaperone."
From the carriage, Draco Malfoy showed his face and nodded at Roman's way.
"Come on, let's get you home." said Carina, bringing Roman to the carriage.
~Tarina: Pride~
"Marry me," said Carina.
"Marry you? Carina, I am disinherited. I have no titles. No money. No name. It would be suicide to marry me --"
"You don't understand. Marry ME. Theodore."
Theodore sighed. "YOU don't understand why I can't. If You marry me, you will be ruined --"
Carina grabbed his shoulders and held it tight that her knuckles turned white. "You're not listening! Marry ME, Theodore. Marry ME. Take my name. Join my family."
Air seem to not exist as Theodore looked at her after that ridiculous and unromantic proposal. Marrying Carina would be everything he wanted coming true. It would end this infinite loop of wondering in his mind -- the war of being with her for love but also leaving her be because he loved her too much to ruin her. But... There was always a but...
"Marry to your family... Take your name..." He sputtered. "Carina, that's..."
"Its unconventional, I know. And I doubt any Bishop or PRIEST would even think of doing so -- or any license would be given, but I would rather look for someone to the ends of the earth who is willing to give us that, than living the rest of my life wondering about you. Where you are... Who you are with... I love you, Theodore."
"You said you hate me." He said with a breathy laugh.
"I do. I hate you so much that you are the only thing that fills my mind. From the moment I wake I would wonder if I would be so unfortunate to have at least a second of your presence. To lunches where I would roll my eyes to the thought of how you eat your meals. And at night, I would loathe the idea of you spending your time in brothels and being with other women that is not me. I hate you so much that you are the only thing that my mind thinks of day and night... And I can't imagine spending the rest of my life having to think about you... Wondering about you... If you still remember me or if you ever felt the same hatred as I did with you."
At the end of her speech, Carina was panting. Out of breath and relief as the weight she has been carrying in her heart was finally, finally released and told to the person that was meant to hear it. But her relief was short as Theodore stood still, frozen, with that scowl he always had, and calculating gaze that she wasn't sure was looking at her or the possibilities of their unknown future.
She flinched at the sudden touch on her cheek. His rough and calloused fingers that have created so many inventions, painted so many portraits, cast so many spells, plucked the strings of the harp, brushed against her cheek, wiping the tears she never knew have fallen.
He opened his mouth to say something but closed as he thought about it again.
"Don't think. For the love of the gods, for once don't think, just say the first thing that comes to mind." She whispered.
Theodore swallowed before he spoke. "I can't... I'm sorry, but I can't..."
Carina closed her eyes, her jaw twitched. "Why not?" she asked, her words getting caught in her throat.
"I can't be the reason for your ruin, Carina. I can never forgive myself if my name, my reputation is the reason to cause you unhappiness..."
"How can you causes me unhappiness when the moment you came back was the most that I felt so alive?" Her voice was rasp as she spoke, with her trying her hardest to keep the sadness inside. To stop herself from crying before him that it hurts her throat just as it hurts her heart.
"I have no money, Carina. The one that I do have could never support you. I can't bring you to balls because people will shun us for such an unconventional marriage... I would be shunned..."
"Pride, then?" She whispered. "You won't be with me because of pride?"
"I'm sorry..."
Carina released her grip on him and stepped away. Theodore tried to stop her but she shrugged his hand off her. The silence was loud, it felt like everything did not exist, nothing past their minds as they looked at each other but for the single possibility of their uncertainty future that felt certain now.
"Carina," he began, breaking the silence.
"If you are certain about this, then can you please do me one last favor..."
"Anything." He painfully said.
"Erase every memory I have of you
"Carina... You can't be..."
"When I marry, I want it to be my husband and only my husband that I think about. It would be unfair if my he has to share my mind with another man that will plague me and our marriage."
"I can't... I can't do that to you."
"Are you really this selfish to not grant me that one thing?"
"I'm sorry... Ask for anything else but I can't do that to you."
"Then leave." She whispered. "Leave and never come back or... Get married to someone else!"
"I can't do that either."
"Then what can you do?!" She took a breath to compose herself as an idea came to mind. "Then I'll leave."
"Carina."
"Far enough to be away from you... And I would be too busy to even let you plague my dreams..."
"Carina. You can't do that!" He grabbed her arm. "Do that and you will be ruined! You will lose all your inheritance to your cousin!"
"Better to live a life as a spinster than a heartbroken and an absent wife. Good night to you, Mr. Nott."
*note: this is not the end of the Bastards×Bridgerton!