Unedited
…
As someone who had seen the images of the palace from the Internet and the magazine, Lily was not expecting that the Grand Ducal Palace would still surprise her. It was huge, its renaissance facade immediately made her smile as her eyes shone with excitement. Living in a place like this does not seem bad at all.
To someone like Lily, who had spent her childhood in Hong Kong then spent most of her time working for Lilian, appreciating the architecture was something that she was not very used to.
Sure, she had read about it and researched it. However, in her previous travels, she was not able to just walk around and appreciate the beauty of each building, each history.
“Lily!”
Lily turned her head and saw the Grand Duchess running towards her, beaming. “You look gorgeous.”
“Thank you!” She returned the older woman’s cordial smile and gave her a hug. “This is my brother. Yuanfeng Facci- Qin.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you!” the Duchess smiled.
“The pleasure is mine,” Yuanfeng responded politely, almost meekly. This would have easily made Lily laugh, however, in front of Esther she maintained a cordial and professional smile. After all, she did not really know who sabotaged her ride earlier — yet.
“Please… let all come inside. Everyone is waiting for you inside.”
“Lily!” To their surprise, Eliza came in running towards them, dragging her long yellow A-line dress behind her. “Yuanfeng!” A huge smile was plastered on her face. “I’m sorry mother, I couldn’t wait. I just have to come here.”
“Eliza! You look— “
“Like a woman?”
“I was going to say radiant, but yes…” Lily smiled. “You do look like a woman.”
“My elder sister designed this dress for me.”
“Mikaela?” Surprised flashed in Lily’s eyes as they started walking.
“She is a talented designer. I really like the feminine aspect of her designs. However, as the person who handles all of our schedules is always busy. I don’t really know how she handles all the designing and dressmaking. I believe she does it at night.”
“That — She sounds really hard working.”
“Of course! We have some hard-working genes just like you!”
“This child.” The Grand Duchess shook her head helplessly as she ushered everyone towards the huge carved door. “Forgive her.” She said. “She had been talking nonstop about visiting you again in Hong Kong. However, her schedule didn’t allow her to do so.” She chuckled.
“Well… I will be visiting Lily after she gives birth, so it’s fine.” Eliza followed them, beaming from ear to ear. “Plus… I…” she leaned towards Lily, whispering. “I already asked Mikaela to make arrangements for me so I could stay with you for a week or two. You know… maybe I can also use the time to have fun in Switzerland with Yuanfeng and my brother.” She winked.
“I can perfectly hear you, young lady.” The Duchess uttered. “And… I thought your man will spend some time with you on this vacation? Antone did not cancel, right?”
“He didn’t confirm either. So…” Eliza shrugged and continued talking about her plans to visit Hong Kong again. However, Lily’s mind was already in shambles. Antone Harringfort will accompany Eliza? What does that mean? For a few seconds, anger rose inside Lily. However, she was still able to maintain her calm facade.
“Man? Your fiance? He will accompany you in Switzerland?” she managed to say, hoping that Eliza would spill more information about the man.
“He won’t,” Eliza said before sighing. “Mother was assuming that he would because we had not seen each other for a few months now. However, why would he even come on a vacation when he was not even invited in the first place?”
“Is that how to speak about your fiance?”
As expected, Eliza shut her mouth after she heard her mother’s words.
“Please forgive her. She is sulking that Antone had been really busy with his family business these past few months. The man was always like this… I believe you should get used to this absence. After all, he would not change even after you marry him. You know… you might even try to convince him to— “
Of course, Lily was not able to hide the frown on his face. Unamused by Esther’s words, Lily bit her lower lip, hoping it was enough to stop her from giving the woman a piece of her mind. How could Esther allow her daughter to marry a man who didn’t even see her daughter for months now? What kind of mother would do such a thing?
However, Lily was fully aware that it was not her place to comment on something that does not concern her. She eyed Eliza who was walking next to her. The elation that the latter showed when she saw Lily was now gone as she lowered her head, hiding her reaction from her mother’s words.
This…
Lily turned silent, she pretended to listen to the Duchess as they continued walking on the corridor of the Palace, their footsteps echoing behind them. She eyed the paintings that were carefully lined on each wall as well as some statues that looked as if they were made hundreds of years ago.
Of course, this was her mere observation, after all, Lily was not an expert in the art.
“They were made in the 16th century.” The Duchess said, smiling. She must have seen Lily looking at each piece of art on the wall. “This palace had been through a lot of renovations. These arts… a lot of these had been broken. You see that cracked? I believe that was made when the German soldiers led by a known German politician ruined this place. This place is rich with history and culture. It represents us.” Lily didn’t miss the pride in the Duchess’ voice. However, there is only one thing on her mind right now…
These arts were made years and years ago. This means that they are really old and probably hunted. Is she really going to stay in a place full of haunted things? Lily shivered at the thought of it. She might… not be able to sleep tonight.
“Ah! Here we are!” The duchess stopped walking as she beamed at her, unaware of the horror inside Lily’s mind.
