Chapter 15 - The Room Where It Happened

Upon hearing the noise, Lilith flinched a bit. She knew that she was supposed to stay by the door, and yet she went exploring. When she turned to look, Raymond and Lucan were standing over the balcony by the stairs looking down at her.

“How do you know that?” Raymond asked him. He was sure that his brother would tell him if he knew about the girl. He was sure he would have told him the very same night, but he had not mentioned it all this time.

“You think I cannot recognize the face of the one who crashed my own ball. Although I was on the floor, I did see her. Very well. The face of the Princess who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Shocking my guests a good amount and then fleeing right after. Of course, I remember her face, it just took a bit to realize that she was your servant.” He turned to Raymond. “Now, how did this come to be?”

Lilith stood up straighter and made her way up the steps. “I apologize for wandering off, this job is still foreign to me. But I am no Princess. I am someone with absolutely no royal connections. I just happened to find the dress and so I decided to wear it.”

Lilith knew that the way she spoke to people in the 1800s was different than how she usually talked and thought, but she changed the way she worded her sentences so that she could make sure to come off as dignified as possible. Even if it did sound a bit weird to her. But she watched enough movies and read enough books to have a slight handle on how to sound. Even if it was not the full reality of it.

“Is what she says true?” Lucan asked his brother.

Raymond nodded.

“How does one just happen to find a dress worth so much?”

“In an abandoned castle of an overthrown royal family. It was probably one of the most expensive items they owned, which is why it was hidden in one of the most bizarre places.” Lilith answered his question.

Lucan gave her a look and then looked to Raymond for confirmation. All he got was a hum. That seemed like enough to satisfy him and so the two turned and left the room with Lilith following behind closely.

“I wondered if the reason why you suddenly had someone with you was that she was the Princess of that night. I assumed that she may have been on the run and you were hiding her. But now that I know that she is just someone as ordinary as any other servant, I can’t help but wonder what is so special about her.” Lucan turned around, studying Lilith with a gentle smile.

Seeing as how Raymond treated her the first time they met and hoe for the past months, although he was not so cruel, but cold. She could not see anything about their interactions that would have made Raymond like her. They had a few pleasant conversations about books and that was it.

Raymond said nothing and the group continued on walking. Lilith guessed that they were leaving since they were out of the room from their conversation. It sparked some curiosity to know what their conversation was about. Of all the history that there was about Raymond, she knew only about his work as a Duke but there were no such recordings of him and Lucan ever working together on something. So she wondered if maybe they talked about something else. But if it was not mentioned then it could not have been too important. However, Lilith was still curious.

Once they were outside, the carriage that they came in was waiting for them. The footman stood by the door holding it open, waiting for the two to enter. He was young, not younger than Lilith, but young, maybe in his late twenties, and she could not help but wonder if this was what he wanted to do with his life or if he just had the job to keep himself alive.

“Thank you for visiting, it’s always nice to talk with you.” Lucan shook Raymond's hand.

“Likewise,”

Once they were in the carriage, Raymond sighed against the seat, she noticed the crease between his eyebrows and the way his fingers rubbed gently against his pants.

“How long have you been getting headaches?” Lilith asked him.

“Years.”

“Have you seen a doctor about it?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Raymond gave her a look but Lilith did not back down. “Continuous headache could be a sign that something is wrong. I’m sure you can get an answer if you were to visit Naulis.”

“I have no desire to waste my time on doctor visits when there is work to be done.”

“Then go on a day when you do not have work.”

“I always have work,” he grumbled.

“How is anyone supposed to enjoy their lives if they just work all the time?”

“Not everyone has the liberty to crash a ball uninvited in a stolen dress.”

Lilith sharpened her gaze at him and huffed through her nose before turning away to look out of the window.

While she was in the ballroom, there was something that came to mind. Since she had suddenly appeared in the room, then could someone have been sent to the future. If so, then that would be catastrophic. That person must be all alone and not know how they were going to live. Unless that person was familiar with Naulis there was no way they would be able to navigate the modern world.

After some silence, Lilith spoke up. “On the night of the ball, do you know if any of the attendees went missing?”

Raymond was silent for a bit and for a moment she thought he was dozing off, but then he answered. “Not that I am aware of. Why?”

Lilith shrugged. “Just curious. I heard about a missing person in the town so I was wondering if it was one of the nobles.”

As soon as they got back to the manor, Lilith made sure to get Raymond his lunch and medicine for his headache. She worried that he would become reliant on the medicine and not ever want to get himself treated.

Once she went back to the kitchen, she saw Gloria, one of the servants there, washing the appliances that Mrs. Potts used to make lunch. Gloria was older than Mrs. Potts and she was a quiet lady who did not say anything more than she needed to. Resting the tray down next to the sink like she always did, Lilith greeted Gloria before she turned to leave.

“I’m grateful to you.” she suddenly said, shocking the soul out of Lilith.

“Me? Why?” she turned around, exhaling dramatically.

“Because you take care of Mr. Cavill.” she didn’t take her eyes off of what she was doing. “I have been a servant of the royal family since I was just a teenager and have seen many things. And no matter how many times Mr. Cavill tried to have a personal servant, it always turned out the same way.”

Lilith walked back to standing next to her and that was when Gloria looked up from her work. “How did it turn out?”

“I’m sure you have noticed that you are the only young girl in this place. It is ideal to have someone young as your personal servant, and girls are usually the ideal choice. But all the girls that Mr. Cavill has hired… well I’m sure you can guess what happened. One after the next, after the next, all applied with the hopes that he would look at them differently than the way he looked at everyone else and when they tried to be someone more to him, they got their poor hearts broken and were fired.”

“How awful. I’m sure he should have realized at one point and tried to hire male servants.”

“He did. But no one accepted. Anyone standing next to Mr. Cavill would be outshone and would not even get glanced at. So no one applied to be his servant.” Gloria sighed. “I have been working here for as long as he lived here and I have seen many pass-through this house, but you are the only one I have seen genuinely care about his well-being and not only his looks. So I am grateful to you for that.”

“I had no idea,” Lilith muttered, playing with the lace on her dress.

“Take good care of him. I know you did not start out on the best term but he is trying his best and needs someone to watch out for him, even if he does not admit it.”

That was the most she ever heard Gloria speak, and after that, the usual silence returned.