Chapter 28 - The People Instead Of The Place

Things moved fast, without proper time for Raymond and Lilith to adjust. After that had happened, Raymond moved on as if it never occurred. He did not say a word about it but Lilith made sure to pay extra attention to him. To think that someone so strong could have a moment of weakness like that.

To Raymond, it was probably weakness, but to her, it showed that he was more than someone who was addicted to work and rarely showed any other emotion other than indifference and defiance to a healthy lifestyle.

Raymond had worries, he had doubts. Underneath all of that toughness was someone who was scared. He did a very good job at hiding it, but now that Lilith knew the truth, she was sure to be more careful from now on.

He did not go to the castle as requested by the Queen, and so, instead, the castle, in a sense, was brought to him.

After Lilith made sure that Raymond was alright, she headed into town for the main purpose of hearing what the people were saying about the revelation that Raymond was actually a Prince. She hoped that she could hear some positive things that could brighten Raymond's day, even just a bit.

The town was the definition of bustling. There were carts and vendors and people everywhere. For a brief moment, Lilith forgot that she was in the past, but when she went out to the town it reminded her again that this was not her world.

Her pace was slow, as she drank in everything. How small the houses and buildings were compared to modern times. How people moved things with carts and horses. How the women wore dresses of all colors and sizes. And how everyone was talking. About the Prince.

There were exclamations of joy, happy that someone as handsome as the Duke was a Prince. There were people who said that they knew it already and a lot more saying that if he were to be King then he would do a very good job. But of course, the biggest wonder of them all was when he would be taking a wife. Every King needed a Queen, so who would be the lucky girl to make herself his bride.

Lilith passed many young girls swooning over Raymond and squealing as they read the papers, making promises to the wind that they would be the ones who married Raymond. There was little doubt about whether nor not he would be able to handle the responsibility of King and that came in the form of worry from the people wondering if he would be able to do it because he was not raised with the mind to be a King. If only they knew that that was his exact thoughts.

Feeling happy with herself, Lilith left the town, but not after making sure to admire a bit more, and went back to the manor where she left Raymond to eat his lunch. She reported her findings to him and tried to make them sound as interesting and as funny as possible so that his mood would improve. But all she was rewarded with were some hums and something she would not even call a glance.

The hours passed by as normal, but when Lilith awoke to a brand new day, instead of birds chirping and the smell of whatever Mrs. Potts was cooking, she was woken up by the worried calls of Laura, a cleaner in the house. Her two blond braids were over her shoulders as she shook Lilith out of her slumber.

Panic immeditaly rose in her stomach. "What- what's going on? Is the Duke ok?" Lilith nearly flew out of bed at the thought that Raymond could be in trouble. Had he had another anxiety attack? Was he in pain?

But Laura just shook her head, wringing her hands in her apron. "There are people outside. From the castle. A lot of them."

Although she was in her nightwear, Lilith didn't care and she left her room, smoothing down her hair and wrapping it into a bun. "Where is Mr. Cavill?"

"He's still asleep. They are not making enough noise to wake him. But they are saying that they are new staff that is required to move into the manor if His Grace does not move to the castle."

Lilith huffed in annoyance. It had not even been more than a day since the Queen sent the letter but since Raymond did not go running to the castle, she saw that as him refusing, and so she took a different route.

"Why hasn't he been woken up yet? I'm sure he won't be pleased to be sleeping through all of this- although now that I think about it, he just might."

"We were waiting for you to do it."

Lilith paused. "Why? It's not like I'm the only person in this entire manor. And besides, you all have been here way longer than I have, why don't one of you guys wake him up."

Laura nodded. "Yes well, all of us would prefer not to have to do that. Gloria or Mrs. Potts are the only ones who would wake him in the mornings, but they are preoccupied at the moment."

Lilith did not have time to look outside to see how many people there were and she headed straight to Raymond's room. His room was located on the west side of the house and so his window was west-facing. It was also closer to the back of the house. The front of the house was south-facing so if Raymond was sound asleep he would not hear what was going on outside.

Pushing open his door quietly, she rushed to the next level where his bed was. Raymond also had a self of books up there that he would read before bed if he was not too tired. Next to his bed was the huge window that opened up to the picturesque landscape that Raymond owned. Lilith pulled the velvet curtains apart and opened the windows, letting the faint light of dawn come in.

She lit the candle on his night stand as it still was a little dark, and then she woke Raymond. Something that Lilith was pleased to find out, was that Raymond slept with no shirt on. It was definitely the shock of a lifetime the first time she saw that. And it was when she was still trying to get comfortable around Raymond. Lilith shivered at the unpleasant memory.

"Mr. Cavill," she called to him. Raymond slept on his back, with the blankets covering most of his torso. His hair was flopped back and his eyebrows were scrunched a bit. There were times when Lilith would forget to do anything momentarily because she was so taken by his looks. Even in slumber, he looked like a painting.

She called and shook him for a bit before he finally woke up. He rolled over on his stomach and let out a groan which Lilith honestly found cute.

"Lilith... what time is it?" he mumbled.

There was a clock on the first floor of his room but by the height of the sun, it was easy to tell the time. "After six."

He sighed and rolled back over before sitting up and letting the blanket fall. Lilith kept her eyes on Raymond's face. "I usually wake up around seven."

"There is a problem," Lilith turned quickly to go down to the first floor where his closet was. "I will hurry to draw your bath, I'm sure things won't get any worse for time being since technically they can't do anything until they see you."

"What are you talking about?" he grumbled as he got off the bed, raking a hand through his hair.

Lilith stopped on the steps and looked back. "Isn't it better to leave it all as a surprise and blow your mind later?" She gave him a convincing smile but his expression told her that she should have known better. Lilith cleared her throat. "The Queen has brought the castle to you since you did not go to the castle. There are people outside, a lot of them. I'm guessing they are here to serve and protect you."

There was a beat of silence. "What?" Raymond growled.

If the situation was not serious she would have thought that was hot.