The Rose That Never Withered (Wattys 2017)

‡Chapter 12 - Rose for a Lover‡

"You have me. Until every last star in the galaxy dies. You have me" - Amie Kaufman

I woke up the next morning near my bed, heaped on the floor. It looked like I tried to get on the bed but didn't have the strength to even climb on.

Remembering what had happened last night brought a frown to my face. I have decided to confront Dianne this morning to get some answers. Dianne obviously didn't sleep at our quarters last night, seeing I woke up at the floor. If she did come home last night, I would have woken up this morning on my bed.

It was the first time she didn't sleep in our room, I feel cold waking up without her warmth.

It was thirty minutes past five in the morning. I quickly dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen. My feet tapped on the marble floors as I bounded past the corridors and into the kitchen. Dianne usually seats at the kitchen island, having her cup of freshly brewed coffee every morning. The scent would usually reach my nostrils as soon as I near the kitchen door.

Today though, I had fully reached the kitchen doors but I still haven't smelled anything. I opened it and found no signs of Dianne. No neatly fixed hair in a bun. No freshly brewed coffee.

There was no Dianne.

"Where could she be?" I whispered unconsciously. It was not like her to leave without saying goodbye. She mostly would ask someone to tell me in case she couldn't inform me herself. It was very unusual for her to leave like that.

I started asking all the other servants at the manor, but all of them either denied seeing her or ignored my existence. Some even went as far as running away when they saw me coming.

I t was as if they were hiding something from me; something big. And the moment I find out what that big secret is, I could risk changing everything in this house.

Everything in the Vilgrain Manor.

Master Julianne.

It had crossed my mind to confront the young master. But what if everything that happened last night was just a figment of my wild imagination? What if it was all in my head? And the moment those words left my mouth to reach the young master's ears to confirm it, I would lose my head - either literally or out of embarrassment.

I don't know what came over me, but I went to the second person that popped in my head after Dianne. I breathed in a heavy sigh and knocked on the wooden oak doors.

"Who is it?" came the response on the other side.

"It is I master." I answered. "Elizabeth"

The door opened and I was abruptly pulled inside. He grabbed my arm and everything went as a blur. The only thing that clicked in my head was the sound of the door closing once I was fully inside, and trapped in between his arms.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Regan?" he whispered, his tone playful but his face having no hint of amusement. I debated whether to be scared or amused at the situation. He had trapped me in between his arms and the door, his breath brushing my face with the small distance between us. His eyes were fixated on mine, my body still regaining balance.

"You did it so many times I'm wondering if you are taking me for a fool." he whispered.

Something was off about him. He seems as if he's in pain, and that all of this teasing was just a mere act to cover what he was truly feeling. I can see right through him. I wanted him to tell me what he truly felt, to show me his deepest, darkest secrets.