063

063


Isolde

Isolde had been in and out of consciousness for the past two weeks. The lord had been here to see her countless times. Her bruised face and skin began to heal during that period.

However, her consciousness was whole today, letting her take in her surroundings. She awoke to the soft tune echoing around her.

Isolde opened her eyes to the harsh brightness of the room, and it stung her, making her shut them again. Allowing her eyes to adjust, she opened them again and roamed them around to see the person humming the tune.

It was Lucinda.

Isolde’s parched lips cracked in a smile as she took in her sister’s form sitting on the sofa a few meters away from her.

Lucinda looked effortlessly beautiful. She was still unaware of Isolde’s gaze as she switched from humming to singing while stitching.

Lucinda was very skilled at making clothes. Back in Brindlemark, she was the one who made most of their clothes and the ones they sold at the market.

Seeing her now reminded Isolde of those memories.

“Oh, the wind hums low where the petals gleam…” Lucinda sang, bobbing her head as she passed the thread through the fabrics, joining them together.

“Guiding lost hearts down the moonlit path…” Isolde completed with a hoarse voice.

Lucinda paused, shocked. She slowly looked up and locked eyes with Isolde. Her heart soared as joy bled into her voice. “Sister!?”

“Lucy,” Isolde called.

Excitedly, Lucinda dropped whatever she was holding and ran to Isolde, hugging her tight as she cried tears of joy.

Isolde basked in her sister’s hold, biting into her lower lip as she closed her eyes in bliss.

Their hug lasted for what seemed like forever before they broke apart, staring at each other.

“My world, you’re…fine now. Awake,” Lucinda rasped. “Are you still hurting somewhere?”

Lucinda began to fuss around Isolde. She speedily jumped to her feet and rattled out, “I should call Madam Roga. She’ll come and have a look at you…” She paced around, putting on her flip-flops, her blonde hair scattered but Lucinda didn’t seem to care. Suddenly, she paused and said more to herself than to Isolde, whom she hadn’t been listening to.

“No. Not Madam Roga. I should call the lord. Yes, let me go and call him…”

She flounced to the door, about to open it when Isolde screamed loud enough for Lucinda to hear her.

“I am fine, Lucinda! No need to call anyone…”

That was when Lucinda paused. Her wide eyes looked back at Isolde.

“You are?” She asked, doubtful.

“Yes, sister. I am. I’ve been talking here since, but you weren’t listening,”

“You have?” Lucinda turned now, facing Isolde. “I didn’t…”

“It’s fine, Lucy. Don’t stress yourself,” Isolde gestured her over, smiling widely. She didn’t understand why her sister thought calling the lord was the best option, but she wasn’t about to ask now.

They hugged again as Lucinda took a seat beside her.

“How come you are here?” Isolde asked, still not believing her eyes. Weren’t they in Abbator?

“The lord asked me to come. He’s such a nice man,” Lucinda commented, grinning.

Her words confused Isolde, causing a frown to appear on her temple.

The lord, a good man? Was her sister alright?

That male was maltreating her, and here she was professing he’s a nice man?

Has he bewitched her sister?

Damn the sky, this shouldn’t be the first thing she should worry herself about, but Isolde couldn’t help it.

She reached out her knuckle to Lucinda’s temple to check whether her sister was sick.

“Don’t tell me you are sick? I mean sick in the head?” She spat, gaping.

Lucinda giggled, slapping her hand away. “Silly, I’m not sick,”

“Oh? Why then are you saying…that broody male is a good man?” She said conspiratorially.

“Well, he is a good man. The best in Abbator, or should I say Bloomington?”

Ah, this was truly happening. Her sister’s sick. This couldn’t be her Lucinda.

“Who the hell did this to you? Him?” Isolde huffed, swearing under her breath.

It was Lucinda’s time to frown now. “What are you talking about?” She asked Isolde.

“You are supposed to hate him, but here you are, praising him! Wasn’t he the one that was hurting you? There was this day I saw him take you to some place like that, and you were screaming.”

At first, Lucinda was confused, but the moment she digested Isolde’s words, she blurted out. “Oh, you mean you heard me when I was screaming at the Tender’s place?”

“Tender? What’s that?” She held Lucinda’s hands, asking.

The girl giggled. “It’s the mind therapist. The lord took me there to help fight my trauma.” Her expression went glum. “I keep thinking about them. About our parents,”

Isolde didn’t know how to react to that. She peered at her sister and scoffed. “After killing them? Now he’s helping you?”

Lucinda shrugged. “I’m starting to think he’s not the one that killed them,”

Oh, seriously? Lucinda is now Draco’s sycophant? Why was she praising him?

“I don’t know who did this to you, but I don’t think I like it…”

Lucinda stood up and danced, twirling around. She reached for her leather fabrics and thread, bringing them to Isolde. “Look, he gave me this too when I told him I can make clothes. He promised to get more for me if this one I’m making turns out beautiful.”

“You are making this for him?” She traded glances between her sister and the fabrics.

Lucinda nodded eagerly, “Yes. I don’t want to make any mistakes, sister. I don’t want him to be disappointed in my skills,” She hurriedly went back and dropped the fabrics. Isolde watched her sister, short of words.

She didn’t know how suddenly Lucinda became her bright, cheerful self, but Isolde sort of loved this.

She watched her sister gist her on all that she heard that happened in the tower since she was unconscious.

“No way!” Isolde yelped when Lucinda told her Edrand was sent to the quarry as his punishment. It was hard for her to believe that.

Draco sent his lover away to the quarry as punishment because of her?

She never expected the lord to do such a thing.

“Yes way, sister! He said the male, Edrand, would be there until further notice,”

Isolde’s lips parted in shock as she blinked rapidly. That was…such a huge feat.

“And he always made sure to visit you. Sometimes I caught him singing for you,”

“Really? He could sing?” Isolde was flabbergasted. Those weren’t the things she expected from the broody lord.

Everything Lucinda was telling her made Isolde’s heart hammer against her chest. She clutched a hand to it, trying to tame the rapid beating of her heart.

What caused the lord to change so much?

Isolde couldn’t tell, but she looked forward to seeing this change herself. Her body buzzed with it.

What if he was only good to her sister and not her?

The knock on the door distracted her thoughts.

“Come in,” Lucinda chanted, allowing the person into the room.

The door creaked open, and the beta, Alfos, stepped into the room.

The moment Lucinda’s eyes settled on him, her heart rate surged, and her face turned beet red.

Both Alfos and Lucinda locked each other in place with their long stare.

Lost at what was happening, Isolde traded glances at the two, wondering.

Why are they looking so intently at each other?

TBC.