Penny went through files again which held nothing much of importance. When Damien entered the room, she asked him,
“Damien?”
“Yes, sweet mouse?” he asked her, placing one knee and one hand on the bed to give a peck on her lips, “What are you reading?”
“I received the files which Lord Alexander had asked from the council regarding the Artemis’ case,” she informed him to see him withdraw himself from the bed to start unbuttoning his shirt.
“Anything interesting that you found in there?”
“The nephew and niece, were they of the same age as their children?” she asked him, her eyes watching his elegant fingers that started to unbutton his shirt from the top that went down one after another.
“I don’t think so. Weren’t the niece and nephew much older than their children?” Damien questioned her back.
“They are?”
“I think so because now that I think about it. Mr. and Mrs. Artemis often took in children, children who were orphans and who had lost parents. It is actually confusing. What do you think of having a cup of tea in the Artemis mansion?” Damien asked her to raise her brows in question.
“Uninvited tea?” she wasn’t sure about that.
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“We can always self invite ourselves, don’t worry about it,” Damien replied, dropping his shirt on the floor before padding his feet towards the closet of clothes and picking one of the fresh shirts.
The next day like Damien had said they had visited the Artemis in the name of an invitation where there was a tea party being held in the Delcorv’s mansion. Damien was a smooth talker and no one would have suspected him to have any ulterior motives as he never touched upon the subject of the children. Penny, on the other hand, sat next to him, pretty like a doll with a small smile on her lips to make it look polite.
That didn’t mean she didn’t feel the eyes of Mrs. Artemis that often fell upon her but not a word was spoken to her. Penny remembered the last time she had been in the house. After visiting the powder room she had explored the house, walking to the part of the house where when the maid found her she was asked to go back and join the guests below.
But it wasn’t just that. Her mind kept moving to children in the portrait-like she had seen them somewhere. No matter how much she tried remembering it, she could barely place her finger on anything right now. The more she thought about it, the hazier the portrait appeared in her mind and now it was nothing but a mush of details she wasn’t able to grasp anymore.
She wanted to see the picture again, to make sure so that she could remember.
“You haven’t touched your tea yet, dear Penelope,” Mrs. Artemis reminded her as it had been more than fifteen minutes since the tea had been poured for her in the porcelain cup.
“My bad,” Penny apologised as if to tell she had been listening to the conversation so intently that she had forgotten about it. When she reached for her cup, Mrs. Artemis stopped her.
“It’s alright. Let me get you a new cup of tea. This one must have chilled right now,” said the lady, raising her hand to get the maid’s attention. A new cup of warm tea had been replaced instead of the cold one.
When the tea was served, Penny didn’t miss the way the elderly couple looked at her, Mr. Artemis giving her only a glance before going back to speak to Damien while Mrs. Artemis smiled at her warmly. With the way she looked, a look of anticipation in her eyes, Penny felt something was wrong.
Of course, Penny wouldn’t have had an idea of what the Artemis’ was that they were a couple of white witches and it was because of Lord Alexander she knew about it. If they were witches it would mean they had access to some kind of potions which was now added in her teacup.
She picked the teacup in her hand. Not by the handle but using her entire hand in a way as if she were scooping it. Holding close to her, she smiled at the elderly woman.
“Is it warm enough?” the lady asked and Penny nodded her head with a fixed smile.
“It feels good to drink tea in this weather,” she commented.
“Oh, yes. It sure does feel good. Thankfully the time of Winter is finally coming to an end and soon we shall have light here with roses and greenery around us,” Mrs. Artemis answered her. Her eyes still held Penelope’s eyes which made it hard for Penny to put the teacup down again.
Penny didn’t have anything to worry about. She raised the teacup to her lips and before the edge of the cup touched her lips, the liquid had turned to water. She drank all of it in one go.
The lady looked slightly surprised that Penny had drunk all of it in one breath. By now it wasn’t just Penny who had noticed Mrs. Artemis looking at Penny and the teacup she had just finished. The woman had surely added something in the teacup but Penny had turned it in time.
“Looks like the weather is really working on you. Let me get you another cup of tea,” Mrs. Artemis got the tea poured into the cup for Penny again, and Penny drank it without a hitch, “Tell us something about yourself, dear. Do you have siblings or if…your parents are still alive?”
What a strange way to phrase it thought Penny to herself.
“I have no siblings and my parents passed away,” this earned her a look of sympathy and it was hard to tell if the woman was giving her a genuine look of worry right now. At the same time, she didn’t mind declaring her mother dead as she had broken ties with her after her mother had set her as a massacre sacrifice.
“It must have been very hard on you then,” Mrs. Artemis freely placed her hand on Penny’s to show her concern.
“It was in the beginning but now I have Damien as my family. It helps reduce the burden on my shoulders and mind.”
“Of course,” the lady nodded her head. From the corner of her eyes, Penny could tell that Damien’s’ chest puffed at her words.
