Chapter 40 - Back To The Past - I
Theodore was now showing the memories of Lillian to Adeline. Adeline's mind was transported to Lillian's memories. She was seeing and hearing, and doing everything else through the perspective of Lillian.
Adeline opened her eyes to see that she sitting in front of the mirror but she did not see her reflection in the mirror. She was in an unfamiliar body.
The woman whom Adeline was seeing in the mirror was around 25 years old. She was wearing a red gown with golden embroidery work. There were few maids working on her. Some were working on her beautiful black hair; some were putting lip color on her; while some were putting varieties of jewelry on her.
Adeline tried to move and speak but she could not. She wanted to look around to see where she was but all she could do was look into the mirror. "Who is this lady?" Adeline tried to think if she had ever seen this woman in her life.
Theodore had just said to close her eyes and had said nothing more as to what or who he was going to show. She had closed her eyes thinking that he was going to show her about her mother's past.
But she was sure that this lady was not her mother because she had heard her father mentioning several times that her mother also had silver hair, just like Adeline herself. So her mother was out of the question.
Then it finally clicked on Adeline's mind. "Of course, this is Lillian. Theodore had said that he had seen Lillian's past."
"So that means… I am in the killer's body right now?" Adeline wanted to shout out loud and ask Theodore to stop. She wanted to rip the neck of this woman right then and there. But unfortunately, she could not do any of those and she just had to see everything as they played out.
Lillian was looking very happy. She would look at her red gown from time to time. She would glance at her reflection in the mirror and smile happily at herself.
"Princess Lillian, you look so gorgeous." One of the maids placed her hand on Lillian's shoulder and complimented her.
Then the other maid added, "You are the most beautiful bride I have ever seen in my life."
And then another one also added while giggling and teasing Lillian, "I hope the King does not faint when he sees you walking down the aisle."
Princess Lillian covered her face with both of her hands because her face was becoming red from the thought of seeing the King. "Stop it everyone. Stop teasing me!" Lillian spoke softly with her eyes looking down on the floor.
"Oh! Don't be so shy Princess. Weren't you the one to say that you were willing to marry the King when His Majesty was still being reluctant?" The maid who was adjusting her hair into a beautiful bun poked her.
Lillian tried to justify her action saying, "Well I am the Princess of this Kingdom. And I would do anything if my Kingdom will be saved from a war."
"Uh-huh! Then why didn't you agree to get married before the King personally gave a visit here? Why were you suddenly interested in the marriage after seeing him?" The maids were continuously trying to tease her and make her blush.
"He is very handsome, isn't he, Princess?" Another maid giggled again.
The whole mood of the room was so light and fun that Adeline forgot for a while that this innocent looking Princess was the same evil witch that she knew.
After some time, the maids had finally prepared the bride. Lillian had a thin red veil over her head that matched her gown. She was wearing a ruby and diamond studded tiara on her head. Her neck had a simple choker necklace. And she wore a large ruby ring on her right hand. She looked really beautiful.
Then a maid came into the room saying that it was now time for the bride to enter the ceremony hall. Lillian stood from her chair and took a one last look in the mirror. Then she went outside of her room and to the direction of the hall. Five of her maids were following her closely. Now they were not so chatty or joking around because they were starting to feel sad that they would no longer be serving their dear Princess.
Lillian stood in front of the hall and a maid handed her a bouquet of flowers. She looked at the guards at the door of the hall and nodded. Soon after, the guards announced of the Princess's arrival and opened the huge wooden doors.
Inside the hall, soft music was being played. Everyone in the hall was standing and was looking behind at the door to see the bride.
Lillian took a deep breath and then entered inside the hall. Her heart was starting to thump very loudly as she was walking down the aisle. She was feeling butterflies in her stomach. She wanted to look at her husband-to-be but at the same time she was nervous to do so.
Eventually when she was about to reach to the altar, she gave in and took a glance at King Dragomir. "Father" Adeline thought as she saw a young looking man in his late twenties who was wearing his Royal attire.
Adeline was happy that she got to see the young version of her father. But she was about to regret it soon as Lillian and her father were about to kiss.
Adeline wanted to get out of the body but she could not. So she distracted herself shouting random words, "Aaahhh… lalalalalalalalala…"
"I don't like this at all Theodore…" Adeline screamed in her thoughts.
After the marriage ceremony was over, Dragomir and Lillian got inside a decorated carriage. There were around 50 Royal Guards in the front and another 50 at the back. There were also two Generals on horse at the front. The heavily escorted carriage set its path from the Frostford's Palace to the Palace of Wyverndale.
Lillian had very high anticipation from her husband. On this long journey, she wanted to talk with the King and try to know more about him. She also wanted to tell many things about herself. But soon, all her expectations were crushed when Dragomir did not even bat an eye on her.
For Lillian, it was love at first sight. But for some reason, her husband was not even looking at her. The sadness that she felt could also be felt by Adeline. But Adeline did not know what to feel about this situation. Was she to say that it serves her right? But she had not even done anything bad… yet…
Lillian still had some hope that maybe Dragomir would talk with her after reaching to the Palace. "Maybe he is just not used to talking while he is travelling" Lillian thought to console herself. The journey was tiring so she soon fell asleep.
When she woke up, she was already on a bed. She abruptly got up and looked around and saw that the decorations were really good. She was in a huge room, all to herself. Lillian murmured to herself, "When did we arrive to the Palace? And where is the King?"
Lillian looked outside and noticed that it was dark already. "Maybe he is with his soldiers" Lillian thought to herself and waited for the King to come inside the room.
She waited for hours. She would pace around the room, try to peek outside of her window, and would wait for the footsteps to be heard. The darkness outside was slowly turning to light but the King did not come to see her at all.
It was the first night of their marriage and yet he had not even come to greet her.
She sat down on the bed and hugged her knees. She had not even changed to another cloth; she was still in her bridal gown. She took a deep breath and tried to contain her tears. She was feeling as if the King had just used her to keep peace among their Kingdoms.
Her loneliness was somewhat lessened when a maid entered her chamber and bowed. "Your Majesty, Congratulations on your wedding. I am court lady Agnes. I will be attending you from today onwards."
Lillian smiled at her court lady and replied, "Nice to meet you Agnes."
"Would you like to take a bath? I will prepare herbal water for you." Agnes asked politely.
"Yes, that would be lovely." Lillian wanted to ask Agnes about the King but did not know if it was considered an appropriate behavior to ask about the King.
Seeing the sadness in Lillian's face, Agnes informed her about the King, "His Majesty has a separate quarter at the center of the Palace area. He said he will visit you soon."
Lillian smiled after hearing this.
Then she waited for several days for the King to visit her. Her court lady had informed her that nobody was allowed to visit the King's quarter without his invitation. So, she had no other choice than to wait for him. Even after about a week of their marriage, the King did not visit her. Nor did he hold a public announcement to declare Lillian as the Queen of the country.
Lillian was going through the same routine every day. She would take a bath, eat breakfast, explore areas of the Palace that she was allowed to, and wait for the King. She was being broken day by day.
And Adeline could also relate to this feeling, the feeling of abandonment.
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