Cloaked Heart

.·:*¨༺ Four ༻¨*:·.

With a promise that they should see each other very soon, Win watched his brother climb a red convertible sports car, smiling brightly he waved his hand, but as he drove away his smile faded. Win walked slowly back into their uncle's house, wondering why he should feel so troubled when Mick was obviously in such high spirits.

And it all made sense when Win finally awoke the following morning, hearing a good deal of noise in the street below the window of his room. Despite all of the misgivings, he slept surprisingly well and from the noises in the street outside it was evident that the morning was fairly well-advanced.

Back at the academy, Win was accustomed to retiring at a reasonable hour and rising early. But the opposite of it was true at the royal capital since social events continued until very late and rising was delayed until mid-morning or even later. However, the journey from the academy back to the royal capital made Win tired that he fell into the late-rising routine from the outset of his stay.

For a short while, he remained in his bed, listening to merchants passing by selling their wares, and teens laughing and chatting. Even so, Win didn't move from the bed and was feeling more reluctant to face the family he had parted from on such strained terms. But when Marissa started knocking, preparing a set of fresh towels and robes, Win had no choice but to rise. The maidservant was also supposed to help him unpack his belonging but he told her not to. He only handed her some of the clothes that needed pressing and informed the maid that he will take care of the rest.

After a quick bath, he decided to wear neat yet simple clothing since he felt that there was no one in the house that he wanted to impress. When he went into the breakfast room a little while later both his uncle and aunt were present as well as his cousin Brigette Rose. Speaking of his uncle and aunt, they have changed little in the intervening years. The lines of dissatisfaction which had always etched into the corners of Lady Luisa's mouth seemed to have deepened and Sir Emrys' face was more florid than Win recalled.

However, his cousin had changed considerably since Win had last seen her as an eight-year-old child. Always the possessor of a certain prettiness, somehow Brigette had not fulfilled her earlier promise and would never be a beauty. Her complexion held an unhealthy pallor and her figure was not full enough for true beauty. Win remembered her as her parents' spoiled darling, and would often compare her attributes to other beauties of the ton. Mick didn't like her one bit and thought of her as vapid. Win tried his best not to hold her vanity against her since she was told to believe that she was superior to others. He also hoped that she changed as much as she had since their childhood.

Brigette's dark hair had been arranged into a fashionable array of curls and she wore a yellow dress made from Indian cotton, complete with pearl accessories that Win thought if she was here to have breakfast or attend a party.

"Good morning," Win greeted them as he paused in the doorway.

All three turned to look at him. Sir Emrys was eating a slice of ham while perusing the morning newspaper. Lady Luisa had been reading an invitation while Brigette had been fixated on her phone, most likely on social media, and chattering away despite the fact that neither of her parents was listening to her.

"Well, we heard you had arrived safely," Lady Luisa responded. "I trust you had an uneventful journey."

"Yes, thank you for asking Aunt Luisa. Tay—I mean, the lawyer, Sir Tay picked me up at the academy and took me here."

Sir Emrys struggled to his feet, tearing off his linen napkin and throwing down his newspaper. "Win, it's nice to see you again. How you have grown. You're quite the gentleman now, is he not, Luisa?"

As he sat down at the table, Win smiled at his cousin. "Hello, Brigette. It's good to see you again after all these years."

The girl looked at him for a moment then looked away. "It's nice to see you too, cousin. It must've been strange after what you are used to at that academy."