Into The Orchard

V

I am used to the fact of not getting enough sleep at night, but for different reasons than this time. Night trainings with Apolonia of course were exhausting, but after them when I came back to my room I practically fell asleep at once. That night I could not get two things out of my head. It was the case of Aurelia's father and a mysterious person who signed letters addressed to Apolonia's grandmother as "TV". Both cases were very puzzling. I was curious as to what the teenager's father had done that got him kicked out of the Von Rostov family. In my wildest dreams, however, I did not expect that this case might involve his alleged pedophilia. If it was true, Aurelia's father was, quite simply, a monster. But I didn't have detailed information about that. It was foolish of me to ask anyone at home for any details about Luna's ex-husband. It would be very inappropriate. I knew I shouldn't ask Kevin about such things either. I couldn't erase the picture of the Von Rostov family from my mind. The photo where all the family members seemed to be completely different people than they were now. The events that happened in that house shrouded the occupants of the buildings in emotional darkness. People here did not talk about what had happened. They didn't even mention a word, didn't give an ounce of any information. I was convinced that my mother Catleyn could not know about all that had occurred. The secrets of the household, were well guarded by them. It made me wonder what else could have happened inside those old walls. The house had stood in this place for many, many years. I wondered if the ancestors of the Von Rostov family had also gone through their own personal tragedies. They certainly had. I had the impression that some kind of curse hung over this family. What could break its power?

What I did not expect more than the fact of the shameful deeds done by Aurelia's father was the unconsummated affair of Apollonia. The old woman certainly had further deep feelings for the mysterious man. Although the old woman was the most discreet person I had ever met in my life, she chose not to destroy the letters signed with the initial "TV". So they must have been important to her; I saw no other explanation. I thought maybe in the rest of the rooms, there would be some other information. Some clues. But I was afraid I might accidentally discover something I didn't want to discover. Some secrets should remain secret for all time. Apolonia must have had a legitimate reason for hiding this "TV". I wondered for a long time if I had ever heard any name matching the initials at home. But there was a bottomless void in my mind, unable to connect any facts together. I came to the obvious conclusion that the letter "T" stood for the first letter of the name. The letter "V" certainly had to stand for a surname. I also came to another conclusion. The man must have had a noble background, much like Von Rostovie. I noticed that most noble families have the phrase "Von" in their surname. Could it be that the mysterious letter "V" stands for the first part of the surname? It made sense, all the more so that for reasons of discretion, perhaps the mysterious man did not choose to put another letter in his name, for fear that a piece of paper could fall into the wrong hands. Unfortunately, the Google search engine did not help me in this aspect. I tried typing in the phrase "TV" in various ways, but all the time, information about TV stations and so on kept popping up in my search results. I knew I wouldn't be able to guess who this man was. I didn't even know if he was still alive. Admittedly, the last letter was from 2017, but since then, "TV", he might have died a long time ago.

- Don't be late for dinner, it's going to be a blast. - Assured me Bobby as he sipped his cup of yerba mate.

It was Saturday morning. Rayan said he would pick me up before noon, so he should be there soon. I didn't really get ready. I dressed as casually as possible and styled my hair in an artistic disarray. It was just me and the cook in the kitchen. Pyta and Myra had been cleaning the entire Von Rostov house since morning hours, before Kevin's arrival tomorrow. They always did this when the boy was going to visit his family. Aurelia hadn't come out of her room yet, apparently still asleep. I only passed Luna, who wished me a good day and disappeared into her study. She had been staying there more often lately. Maybe she was putting the finishing touches on my mother's wedding dress? I was drinking coffee which, unfortunately for me, due to the recent events, more and more often started not to taste good. It's a pity, because coffee in the morning used to be a good idea.