"So, will you be going to the Blackvilles today?" She asked. Her eyes were wide open, her face smooth, her voice clear and firm, as if she knew I wanted to go there.
Something about Lord Blackville made me courageous to speak up for myself today. Something about him made me forget who I was for a moment. But somehow, I still did not understand what was happening with me.
"Aureline!" Mary's voice made me jump back into the real world outside my mind.
"Yes, Mary?" I asked her as I glanced back, outside the carriage.
"Can I ask you a question?" She asked me with a bit of confusion and a bit of of curiosity.
"Yes, go on!" I replied, finally meeting her gaze.
"Why are you going to the Blackville house?" She asked me in her same previous expression, like she'd glued that over her face.
"You will find out soon, Mary." I lowered my gaze as I rubbed my hands together, feeling the cold metal of my ring.
Then the carriage stopped. We heard the horses neigh as the carriage door opened.
"I guess we have reached our destination." She smiled as she got out of the carriage. I just smiled back hesitantly as she offered me her hand that accepted.
We were just about to walk toward the door when it flew open, revealing a tall, handsome man. He had the same black hair as Lord Sebastian's. But still, Lord Sebastian seemed more handsome to me.
"May I help you, my ladies?" He approached us as soon as he saw us at the gate. He had a cool demeanor.
"Lord William Blackville!" Mary said, as she swallowed hard, seeing his figure.
"Yes, my Lady?" He asked Mary, thinking that she was a Lady of the ton.
"Well, I am not a Lady. I am just an ordinary..." I didn't let her complete when I said, "She's my friend." I looked at him.
"I guess we have a very special guest today." He paused, teasingly smiling as he scanned every inch of my body. Then he said, "The diamond of the season, Lady Aureline Felixer. Am I right?" His smile suspiciously matched Lord Sebastian's.
"Yes, I am, Lord Blackville." I nodded in response.
"I guess your friend would make an exceptionally fine diamond, too." She turned toward Mary. I noticed that her cheeks were now deep red.
"I am here to meet Lord Sebastian Blackville. Is he home?" I asked him to make him go away.
"So the diamond is here to meet my younger brother." He turned back toward me.
"Yes, I am my Lord. And please stop calling me the diamond. You are making me feel uncomfortable with that." I told him. I told him the truth. I told him the feeling. I told him the emotion.
"Well, I have seen the first Lady who feels uncomfortable with the word 'diamond'." He looked at me, again, teasingly. I stared at him in response. As soon as he looked at my serious face, he said, "Ester will take you to him." He looked at a maid, who had black hair and was at least thirty. She was just standing at the door. It looked like she came from somewhere.
"I shall go now." He glanced at Mary after talking to me, hoping that she would ask him to wait.
"Follow me, my Ladies." She said gently. Mary and I exchanged glances and followed Ester inside.
We followed her inside the house. The house was big. It was bigger than my house. I had large windows with velvet and satin curtains. The inside was brightly lit with natural light. Fresh flowers filled the environment. There was luxurious furniture. Maids were cleaning and dusting. They all seemed happy there. Pleasantly delicious smell of freshly baked cakes and biscuits filled the environment.
"Lord Sebastian! You have visitors." She bowed slightly to acknowledge him as he was standing, reading a book, facing the large window of the drawing room. It was again decorated with flowers and paintings. There was also a limestone statue of a man placed at the fireplace, which I think was of the late Viscount Lord Blackville. The room had emerald green and silver aesthetics.
"Who is it, Ester?" He didn't even bother to turn back and continued to read his book.
"It is me, Lord Blackville," I spoke as soon as he took words out of his mouth. His head suddenly got up as he heard my voice.
"Lady Felixer!" His eyes were a bit confused, while his face was lit with a fancy happiness.
"What a pleasant surprise!" He closed his book and set it on the table as he walked closer.
"I just needed to talk to you about something, Lord Sebastian." He told him, still playing with my ring.
"Very well! Ester, please bring tea and biscuits. Our guest likes biscuits very much." He smiled, revealing his dimples that made me flutter. I smiled back hesitantly at his response.
"Yes, my lord!" Ester bowed and walked away, leaving three of us behind in the room.
"Please sit, my Ladies." He stepped aside, giving both of us some space to walk and sit on the green and silver velvet sofas.
"I haven't you anywhere before, my lady." He said as he sat down and looked at Mary.
"Oh, I am a maid at the Felixer house," Mary said as she lowered her gaze.
"But she's my friend. The only trustworthy friend I have." I smiled at her as she did the same in response. Lord Sebastian just watched our faces. He was enjoying that.
"Very well, my Lady." He bowed slightly as he smiled pleasantly, making me flutter again.
"My Lord, Mary, I have a few things to say to both of you." I lowered my gaze as I swallowed hard. My ears began to heat up.
"What is it, Aureline?" Mary asked me. Her tone was gentle and supportive.
"What can I do for you, my Lady?" Lord Blackville asked, in a bit of confusion. He had no idea what I was going to tell him and what I was going to ask him back.
"I−I−I−..." I was still unsure about my decision. I still thought about other people's thoughts.
"Don't be afraid, Aureline," Mary said. Her tone was again gentle, again supportive.
"I-I-I sometimes get dreams!" I finally said. I finally said what was troubling me for so long. It didn't feel that much better yet.
"Dreams? Well, my Lady, we all get dreams. Right, Mary?" He replied. His face was filled with sudden confusion as he listened to me and glanced at Mary. Both Lord Blackville and Mary's confusion was legit and genuine.
"Yes, my Lord!" She looked at him.
"Aureline, what is wrong with having dreams?" Mary said. Her eyebrows were standing high as she was confused.
"Eh! Mary, my dreams are not ordinary. My dreams−..." I paused, my tone was gentle yet still unsure.
"My dreams tell the future!" I finally let out the final explanation that was haunting me, though my thoughts were still haunting me.
"Future!?" His voice echoed. I looked at him. His eyes looked like he believed me, but his body was still unsure.
"Aureline, do you know what you're talking about?" Mary said as she rested her back on the sofa.
"Yes, Mary! I know what I am talking about. I know what I am saying. I know what I mean, Mary." I looked at her as I swallowed hard. My eyes were pitiful.
"Lady Felixer!" Lord Sebastian's voice struck my head as I looked at him. He was now sitting on the sofa near me. I looked at him.
"Tell me each detail about it." He commanded gently. His Adam's apple was so gorgeous at the moment. His eyes were never leaving mine, and my eyes were not leaving his eyes. His face admired me. His face admired my words. His face admired my tongue. His words admired my soul. Something about him was still making me heat up at that moment.
"You−you believe me?" I asked him. I asked him while studying his eyes. I asked him, still thinking what that ' something ' was.
"I believe you." His tongue replied. His face was sure. His body was still. His pupils were reading mines, back. I hoped his heart felt back, what I felt, too.
"Aureline! I know it is hard for me to believe it, but I'll do it if you say so." Mary said, interrupting our contact.
"Thank you for that, Mary," I replied, looking at her still unsure face.
"Tell us everything in detail, now." His voice struck in my head again. The voice that charmed me.
I faced him back to look at him when, suddenly, another voice interrupted us.
"Your tea and biscuits, my lord." It was Ester with two other maids. She bowed slightly to him and signaled the maids to serve tea.
"Thank you, Ester! We will be ok by ourselves now." He said, his tone was gentler than ever.
"For sure, my Lord." She replied.
"And please close the doors of the room as well, when you go!" He commanded her again, gently.
"As you wish, my lord." She replied and bowed slightly to him and signaled again to both of the other maids to go.
"My Ladies!" She bowed slightly to Mary and me as well. She walked away with the other two maids and closed the door softly, leaving silence for a few seconds in the room.
"Aureline! As Lord Blackville had said, " Tell us everything in detail." Mary said, but I still preferred looking at the Lord.
"First of all, you both would be thinking, why am I even telling you this?" I said, glancing at both of them. The room was comfy, but my heart wasn't in it at the moment.
"Yes, we indeed are, my Lady." Lord Blackville chuckled, sharing a glance with Mary, but there was gentleness in it.
"Earlier this week, I saw a terrifying dream. A dream that made me terrified and uncomfortable for days and is still haunting me right now." I swallowed hard as the scene replayed in my head.
"I saw some creatures taking away people with them. There was pure chaos. There were screams and cries of mothers, children, and other folks. It looked like the creatures were giant pieces of mossy tied-up wood." I said as my face displayed the horror of the upcoming incident that I saw.
"So... You are saying that creatures were taking away people with them." Lord Blackville said, his face was no longer smirking, but was deeply in bond with my explanation now. I nodded three times in response.
"There was my sister too. And there was I. The creatures just snatched me from my waist, rested me on their rough shoulders, and carried me with them, but then I suddenly woke up." I looked at Lord Sebastian.
"Have your any dream come to reality before?" Mary asked this question. The question was stupid, just as stupid as the face that she was making at that moment.
"Of course, Mary." I looked at her in a bit of disbelief before saying, "Of course. Every dream that I see comes true. I saw myself being declared the diamond of the season; it happened. I saw my father dying, and it also happened. Everything I see comes true. Whether it is the most enchanting thing or whether it's just pure horror." I said, playing with my hands, again.
"Hmmm... Then we have to do something about it." Lord Blackville said, as he looked at me with his eyes overflowing with hope.
"That is why I am here. I want help from both of you to stop that from happening." I said, looking at both of them, with hope in my eyes that Lord Sebastian had filled recently.
"And there is one more thing!" I spoke, clearing out the silence.
"And what is it?" Mary asked me. Her tone was adventurous yet hopeful.
"They were all going toward my home," I mentioned that very detail.
There was silence in the room. The silence made me anxious and nervous.
"Then we shall start investigating your home, my Lady." He looked at me. His pupils were demanding my answer as 'yes'.
"Please. Anything to prevent that from happening?" I answered him positively.
"But, what about the Viscountess?" Mary said. Her question was not stupid this time. She was right, we had to do something to prevent our mother from preventing us.
"So, what should we do?" I asked Mary.
"Maybe we can make her sleep for some time, so that we can freely investigate the house." Lord Sebastian said, suggesting a thoughtful idea.
"No, it would be way too dangerous, my Lord," I replied to him. Only looking at him made me flutter and heat up.
"Or maybe, we can make her attend a ball." Mary smiled as she suggested.
"A ball?" I looked at her in a bit of confusion.
"Yes! There is a ball tomorrow night at Lady Gress' house." Her smile was not leaving her face when she said, "You can pretend that you are sick, and I will stay with you, and then Lord Blackville can come over to help us." She suggested.
"That could work. Oh, thank you, Mary. Thank you so much." I finally smiled and looked at Lord Blackville. It felt a bit strange not smiling for too long.
"So, that's perfect then." Lord Sebastian said, smiling back at me.
"Yes, that is." I smiled pleasantly at him.
"Lady Felixer!" His voice took me back to him as soon as I was about to look at Mary.
"You look gorgeous when you smile, my lady!" His words made me heat up. His words made me feel like I was in the sky for a bit of a moment. His words made me heat up from head to toe. His eyes meant everything. His presence was everything.