A different world

[DawnAntalios]

Ben walked upstairs to his room while Lily followed Emilia to the kitchen.


" No, thank you mistress. " she said. When Emilia finished pouring her coffee to her cup Lily walked closer to her, whispering. " Worry not, mistress. As soon as we depart Lord Benjamin will have something very important thing to do - and he will be away for long enough so that when we return I will have some time to... arrange things. "


She smiled.


" For the two of you of course. "

 

[Dropintheocean]

Emilia frowned her forehead as she took as sip from her cup.


"What do you mean? What is Benjamin going to do?" This news worried her in some way. The last time Ben didn't tell her about what he was up to, it didn't end to well for him. And now Lily was going to 'arrange things'?


"And what do you need to arrange for us?"


She didn't get it at all. Maybe a banquet wasn't exactly what she thought it woud be, but she doubted that.

 

[DawnAntalios]

Lily's smile widened.


" Oh my mistress, I am not that oblivious as you might think I am. " she grinned " I haven noticed that you and the master require... well a romantic evening together, no? "


She walked around joyfully.


" But that also requires preparation, thus I will need some time for that. Worry not, I guarantee that you will love it. "


As for what Ben was doing... well Lily thought it was better that Emilia did not know. Ignorance is bliss as they said, so she just smiled happily to keep up the disguise of being carefree.

 

[Dropintheocean]

Emilia's face lit up when Lily revealed what she was up to.


"Oh, Lily, that's really nice of you." She smiled to her maid and turned around to wash her cup in the sink.


She was right, Benjamin and herself needed a romantic night. It would definitely help the two of them relax, and perhaps they would get to know eachother a little better. After all, they had just discovered how they felt about eachother, so there hadn't been much romance involved yet.


When she had put the cup away, she grabbed her coat and looked at Lily.


"Well, let's go buy some groceries then."


She hadn't had the time to discover the town yet, but she figured it would be pretty easy to find the nearby stores to buy their ingredients from. Otherwise she could still ask Benjamin where they should go.

 

[DawnAntalios]

" Right away, mistress. " Lily bowed and followed Emilia to the outside. She had no coat herself so she went in her maid outfit - it was a bit chilly on the outside but she could endure it.


Walking with Emilia was a great thing. By no means did she expect this to be a girl's day out but she was truly curious about her. Carefully as they proceeded to walk into the city she looked at her.


" My lady, I was wondering. " she spoke " Do you actually love Lord Benjamin? I have heard a lot of tales of arranged marriages, I just do not want anything to go awry... that you would be forced to live with someone you do not love. "

 

[Dropintheocean]

Emilia smiled at her maid and shook her head.


"Don't worry, Lily.."


She kept quiet for a moment, uncertain if she could already speak of love. "I like Benjamin a lot, and I'm certainly IN love with him, but.." She bit her lip and looked down to the street. "But I don't know if I already love him, it takes a lot of time to actually feel about one in that way."


She put her hands in the pockets of her coat to keep them warm, and looked up to Lily again.


"I'm sure that in time I will love him, it's just to early to have those feelings."


She smiled, hoping that Lily was satisfied with her answer.


After walking for a little while, they reached what she thought was the town. There where many people walking around in a rush. Business people she assumed.

 

[DawnAntalios]

Lily did not reply immediately.


" You are wise beyond your age, mistress. " she said, nodding with a satisfied smile " Most girls would flock to a noble man and would seize the first opportunity to wed one. Yet you know the risks and the perils all this comes with. A nobleman's life is not as easy as so many portray it... they might have no financial issues but many crippling laws bind them. "


She walked more carefully, lowering her voice.


" A noble has more enemies than anyone else. I have seen many of them to smile with that fake intention of helping only to back stab the other the moment they had the chance. And some... well some go to lengths... "


Her face darkened.


" Some go to lengths from where is no turning back. "


She realized how dark her mood had become so she quickly smiled at Emilia and silently followed her to the heart of the city. It was time to do the sopping properly.

 

[Dropintheocean]

Emilia got a little scared when Lily told her all those things.


"Yes, it's a hard existence, I guess.."


She walked along, not tyring to think about it to much. She looked around to see where to go first, but had no idea. "So, do you have any idea what we need to get first? And perhaps also where to get it?"


She stumbled round a little, searching for a shop.

 

[DawnAntalios]

Lily realized how she changed the mood.


" My apologies mistress. Just bad memories emerging. " she said " I think this should be the shop we are looking for... "


The day went by in a rather mundane fashion as the two of them purchased as many ingredients for the dinner as they could. It was almost dark when they have finished and Lily was glad that Emilia accompanied her - the amount of food they bought was hardly manageable by a single person. She smiled happily, thinking about all the delicious food she will make - well those that she will not mess up that is.


They headed home when something was amiss. Lily stopped abruptly as two figures emerged from the shadows, grinning at the two girls with hungry eyes. Cutpurses, both of them.

 

[Dropintheocean]

Emilia smiled at Lily, happy with all the delicious ingredients they had purchased. But when they came around the corner, she saw two scary man standing there, grinning mischieviously at the sight of the two young ladies.


She couldn't move no speak, she was completely paralised.


She looked at her maid, who seemed scared as well.


Emilia didn't have anymore money on here, except for a little bit of change left from the shopping. Hoping that the two thiefs would quickly notice it as well, she looked into their eyes, with a desperate expression on her face.

 

[DawnAntalios]

The fear and panic faded from her expression when she saw Emilia being afraid as well. Her expression turned into a firm determination. Putting the ingredients to the ground she looked at Emilia.


" Mistress. Make your escape. I will cover you. " she said, lifting her hands in a specific pose. The two humongous rogues snorted but were not afraid of the maid. Seeing that Emilia did not move she now said it louder. " Mistress, go! I will hold them up, you are more precious to our lord. I will be fine, don't worry. "

 

[Dropintheocean]

Emilia doubted for a while, but then decided to run to get help for Lily. She ran as fast as she could and knocked on the first door she saw.


"Help me! Please, open the door!"


She knocked as hard as she could, hoping that someone would open.


And after a while, a young man opened the door. "Come with me, my maid is in incredible danger!" Without thinking she grabbed the stranger's arm and directed him to the place of the accident.

 

[DawnAntalios]

Seeing Emilia running away Lily finally grinned.


" You have made a grave mistake. " she hissed and charged the two man. They at first did not even understand what was going on so fiercely did the girl rush at them. Her hand striking precisely at the vital points of one of the ruffian he could do nothing but watch as Lily paralyzed him with the perfect touch with her palm. As soon as the gigantic man was incapacitated she tossed him to the ground, to his partner's horror. The thief backed away, hurrying into the opposite direction in fear.


Lily cursing how the fight made all the groceries roll around the ground she started to pick them up one by one. It was then when Emilia arrived the man to help her. She smiled and looked up at her whilst still picking up the fruits and meat.


" I am glad that you are all right mistress. My apologies, I will clean up this mess and we can head home. " she looked cheerfully at the man as well " Good evening sir. I hope everything is all right. "

 

[Dropintheocean]

Emilia arched a brow and looked at the man standing next to her, who seemed to be equally confused. The man went off, irritated that everything was fine. She rushed to help Lily pick up all the fallen foods.


"But.. But how did this happen?!"


She couldn't understand, a second ago there were two thiefs standing in front of them, ready to hurt them both. And suddenly, they were gone, out of the blue.


"Why did they run away? Did they steal anything?"


She looked at Lily with a very worried face.

 

[DawnAntalios]

Lily smiled at her with a cheerful face.


" It turned out that they were rather intelligent gentlemen. " she said " We could... convince one another that it is best if we continue our walk on different routes. "


When she finished picking up everything she thanked for Emilia's help and looked at her.


" Come mistress, you should rest after this frightening meeting. I will make some tea when we reach home, all right? "

 

[Dropintheocean]

Emilia nodded, still shivering from this stressful encounter.


She couldn't wrap her head around it, the men didn't seem like people who would walk away after a convincing chat. At least Lily was fine and nothing had been stolen, she decided not the worry to much about it.


She grabbed her bags and continued walking home. They arrived after little time and Emilia opened the door. She entered the house, walked into the kitchen and put all of their groceries on the table.


She sighed and smiled at Lily. "Finally home."

 

[DawnAntalios]

Lily nodded happily.


" Oh mistress, you must be really tired. " she said with a smile " I will make some warm tea for you then I'll go and prepare the surprise for the two of you. Lord Benjamin should arrive any second now I think. "


With that she cheerfully began to make some delicious drink for Emilia. She was pleased and satisfied: her mistress was truly the best match for Ben.

 

[Dropintheocean]

Emilia nodded gratefully and decided to start on the book she had found this morning.


She walked over to the library and settled in the comfortable chair. The book was still laying on the side table. She picked it up and opened it for the first time.


A cloud of dust came out of it, which she waved away while coughing.


The pages were yellow from old age, making it harder to read the letters. She tried anyway, and quickly got blended in the interesting story.

 

[DawnAntalios]

Ben arrived and opened a door, being a bit tired. He was successful now he knew what had to be known. The moment he entered through the door he spotted Lily standing in front of him, her expression being grim. Carefully closing the door behind himself he walked up to her.


" Is there something amiss? "


She carefully explained everything and Ben's heart almost skipped.


" Is she all right? "


" Yes, she is in the library right now. " the girl grimaced " I will go and prepare the room for you two. You better not disappoint her... she is easily the best girl you could have ever found. "


With that she walked upstairs, leaving the boy alone. Immediately he rushed into the library finding Emilia unharmed. He let out a heavy sigh and walked up to her silently, smiling.

 

[Dropintheocean]

The story of the book truly intrigued Emilia, she was completely absorbed by it.


Her heart made a little jump when suddenly she saw Ben walking up to her. She smiled at him and closed the book, folding the corner of the page she was at, so she would be able to find it later on.


She put it on the table and looked into his eyes.


"So, what have you been up to?" she asked with great interest.


Lily hadn't aswered that question when Emilia had asked about it before, making her even more curious to know.

 

[DawnAntalios]

" Well I... " Ben hesitated. He could not just outright tell her everything no matter how it pained him. " I was out to... check out if everyone has gotten an invitation to the banquet of course. You know how is it during these times... one can not be careful enough. "


With that said he sat down next to her, smiling.


" You are radiating happiness. You are truly wonderful. " for a moment he had thought to lean in to kiss her again but he was unsure how she felt about that gesture so he just stayed put, awaiting her response.

 

[Dropintheocean]

"Alright.." Emilia sensed that he wasn't telling her something, but she had no idea what he was hiding.


"So you went by everbody's house to see if theygot their invitations?" She lifted her eyebrows and looked at him while folding her arms. She shook her negativity and forced a smile upon her face.


"Perhaps it was smart of you to do that, at least we will now they arrived."


She turned her head to see what Lily was up to, but she couldn't tell. She did hear a lot of noise.


"Do you know what Lily is doing? She wouldn't tell me much about it.."

 

[DawnAntalios]

" Oh she is doing something really pleasant. I am sure of it. " he smiled knowing what the maid was doing upstairs. It was after all her idea so he trusted her of creating something wonderful. It was then when they heard a bell ringing and Ben smiled.


" This is the signal, please come with me. "


He gently held her hand as they walked upstairs towards his room. At the door were plenty of rose petals on the ground and on the door was a do not disturb sign. Chuckling at the girls humor Ben opened the door and looked satisfied. The lights were dimmed in the room with curtains pulled together to create a perfect, dark atmosphere. The candles were flickering in the shadows as even more rose petals littered the floor, leading up to the french bed, prepared delicately for the two of them. Warm tea and snacks were on the night table next to them and even a pair of sleeping pajamas were hanging on the wardrobe in case they decided to sleep... together.


Ben smiled and looked at Emilia.


" Well, I guess we can say that this is a pleasant surprise. "

 

[Dropintheocean]

Curious to know what the suprise would be, Emilia followed her fiancé up the stairs. She didn't know what to expect, Lily hadn't told her a thing. In front of the door to his room were rose pedals spread, and it looked absolutely beautiful.


She suddenly realised she had never been to his room, and wondered what it would look like.


When they entered the room, Emilia was shocked, in a pleasant way. The candles lit up the room in a romantic way, it made her smile even more, if that was possible. "Wow, this is gorgeous."


She looked at Benjamin and softly squeezed his hand of excitement.


Lily had surely done a wonderful job, it was just perfect.


She looked around and kept noticing things that made her even more enthusiastic and even more happy.

 

[DawnAntalios]

Carefully closing the door behind them Ben smiled in the twilight. The mysterious atmosphere made Emilia much more charming... it fitted her greatly. Walking up to her he gently caressed her with his hands. This was finally their moment... no trouble, no secret, no lies, just the two of them. He felt elevated and relieved.


" A wonderful evening for a wonderful girl like you my dear. " he said.


Walking over to his gramophone he put on some relaxing music to make the mood lighter.


" Well then, my beautiful maiden, what do you want us to do? "