"Welcome to Hargrave Manor, Your Highness. My name is Brenden and I'll be serving you today."
Brenden was an exact splitting image of Trevor. Being a butler to the Royal family seemed to run in the family. We stood in a large foyer with rooms on either side of us. There were two staircase that lead up to the second floor. Everything here looked shinny. Nothing compared to Alexander's home or the palace but still impressive.
"Lady Hargrave is waiting in the tea room."
We followed Brenden through the house. I couldn't see any other servants or guards around but maybe that was intentional. Impressive portraits and art decorated the hallway. From the direction we were headed, we seemed to be going through the house.
My suspicions were correct when the hallway ended at a door. As we stepped through, it opened up to an awning with an garden to our right. Brenden lead us through the garden, past an abundance of flowers, where we came upon an outdoor patio set with, what I could only assume was, Lady Hargrave sitting at one of the tables, with a white and gold teacup held in her fingers. She had a light blue, vintage swing cocktail dress with short sleeves.
Lady Hargrave was a curly haired woman with eyes that looked right into your head. I curtsied just like Mr. Adams taught me. At least, I might have but I couldn't be sure.
"I greet Her Majesty, Lady Hargrave."
"Mom," Alexander said.
It was only then that Lady Hargrave stood. She smiled and embraced Alexander. It was then she looked down at me and, with a tilt of her chin, asked me to stand upright. My legs groaned in protest.
Alexander pulled me closer. "This is Rin. I wrote to you about her."
Lady Hargrave gave me a quick glance before gesturing to the chairs.
"Please take a seat. Brenden have brunch be served. We can eat here in the nice weather."
"Right away, my lady," he said.
With a bow, he departed.
Alexander pulled a chair out for me, pushed me back in, before sitting himself. On the round table was a three-tiered tray with an assortment of sweets at the tops, scones in the center, and small sandwiches on the bottom.
"I received your gift," she said. "It was . . . a lovely . . . surprise."
Alexander blinked in surprise. I had forgotten to tell him about it. Plus, I had also forgotten Camellia had picked it up. She hadn't told me she'd sent it. Then again, I might have left it at home if I'd been in charge.
"It's a small token to commemorate this day," I replied smoothly.
Alexander grabbed my hand. "That was nice was of you."
"It was only proper," I told him.
However, the way she said it, the pauses, made me think that she didn't think it was very lovely. But that was normal, right? Parents were protective of their children. My dad still acted cold towards Alexander. It made sense that Lady Hargrave would act like this to me.
Brenden's return with two servants, cutting that conversation off. The servants placed Danish treats, mini toasts, fruit tarts, and fruit on the table. They added two wine glasses and a dark red bottle of wine without any markings. My mouth watered looking at all the food.
Despite my hunger, I waited for Lady Hargrave to be poured a class before I thought about grabbing food. Alexander was also poured a glass of what was not wine. Noticing this, I glanced at Alexander. He didn't seem to perturb by that. Instead of the glass, he took a couple of sandwiches and placed them on my plate before eating one himself.
"These are great," Alexander said.
Lady Hargrave's gaze seemed to bore into Alexander. I nibbled on my sandwich. She had to suspect something was wrong. Strangely enough, Lady Hargrave continued to let us eat while she sipped from her wine glass. I tried to eat a little bit of everything but it was hard to ignore Lady Hargrave's look of suspicion.
One of the servants poured me a cup of tea. Smiling at her, I took it and took a sip.
"I must say," Lady Hargrave said, "I didn't expect such communication. It's been a long time since we last spoke."
Alexander sipped his tea before replying. "Yes, it has been awhile," he agreed. "There's been a lot of . . . work recently and even before."
"Yes," she said, taking another sip. "I've seen the news. It's a shame it has come to this. We've tried so hard to get along and yet, this is how we're treated."
"It's not humans this time, mother."
Lady Hargrave smiled. "It doesn't look like that initially," she began.
"I won't have this conversation again."
Suddenly, these Danishes were really good. Best I have tasted even.
"Of course not," she said. "You didn't come here to argue, yes? Tell me, what can dear old mom do for you?"
Alexander put his tea cup down. "I'd like to have your blessing." He grabbed my hand. "I want to spend my time with Rin."
The expression on Lady Hargrave's face never wavered. "To think that my son has found someone to cherish," she said. "I am . . . delighted. This is joyous news indeed. You've started preparing for the announcement ceremony?"
"Yes ma'am," I replied.
She chuckled. "There's so much to do," she said. "I'll look over what you have. Don't want to miss anything of important, right?"
"I would be honored to have such help," I replied.
"Good," she said. "Brenden."
Almost immediately, he appeared beside her. "Yes, my lady?"
"Take the Crown Prince to get measure for his ceremony," she ordered. "Five suits will be enough for now."
"Yes, my lady."
Alexander finished his scone before standing. He leaned over to me and kissed my head. With a pit in my stomach, I watched him leave.
I placed my mini toast down on my plate and wiped my hands on the fancy napkin.
"Don't stop on my account," Lady Hargrave said. "I had my chef make all of this for you. It's very difficult to gauge how much food a human consumes in one sitting."
"They're very delicious," I told her.
Lady Hargrave placed the wine glass on the table and leaned forward. "You wish to stand beside the Crown Prince. I must say, I didn't see your name on the list of candidates."
"I wasn't on there," I told her. "We met -"
"Oh that's right. It was during the time the Crown Prince was accused of such barbaric actions and wrongfully imprisoned. You were involved with that nasty incident."
My cheeks burned. "Yes, it was during the time His Highness was put on probation."
Lady Hargrave's eyes glowed. I wasn't blaming Alexander, but why did I get the feeling she was trying to blame it all on me. We were both at fault and we had come to terms with it. Otherwise, we wouldn't be together.
"It's behind us now," I told her. "We've come to terms with our shortcomings."
"Have you now?"
As she stared me down, I took a sip of my tea.
"Not everyone is qualified for such an esteem job, wouldn't you say? You can't ask an optometrist to do the job of a cardiologist."
"They're both doctors," I said, quietly. "They both had to learn their craft through study and practice."
Despite the sun, there was a chill in the air. Then, Lady Hargrave smiled.
"Yes, but anyone would know that they need to pick a career they're most suited for."
It was hard to argue with that logic, but I wasn't here to argue. I could already tell that Lady Hargrave wasn't fond of me. I knew getting her support wasn't going to be easy so, all I had to do was stay calm and try to be polite. For now.
"That's true," I replied. "You need a career that makes you happy. Otherwise, it'll be miserable for everyone involved."
I ate more of the Danish treats. Lady Hargrave enjoyed more of her drink. Occasionally, she would ask me about school, and my age, and of course those got some remarks.
"It does help that your enthusiastic," Lady Hargrave said.
"It's about helping Alexander," I told her. "He has and will continue to have a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders. If I can help him even a little bit then, I'm content with that." I took a sip of my tea.
Lady Hargrave's lip almost curled in disgust.
"Help is important," she agreed, "but it needs to be help from good sources. From those who have the capability to do more than just cheer someone on. Someone is needed to look at the real issues and problems, and not to be swayed by irrelevant issues."
I frowned into my empty tea cup. I had a vague idea what "irrelevant issues" meant. Luckily, we didn't have talk much longer. Soon after, Alexander returned with Brenden.
"Miss me?" Alexander said, joining us at the table.
"Always," Lady Hargrave replied. She emptied her glass.
"Now that I have you here," she continued. "I need some help understanding how my son is a human."
Alexander and I shared a glance. We should have known that was going to be brought up sooner or later.
A/N
I'll be traveling for the next two weeks. I won't have reliable internet so updates might be pushed back. If I do manage to post a chapter, I'll let you know.
Thanks for reading.