C15 Lurkers in the Forest

Ignoring the lump of guilt for going ahead of the planned rendezvous with Dynirho, Francesca boldly entered the depths of the forest serving as the entrance into the rich mountain of Verindale.

She doesn’t have a firsthand knowledge about the geography of the terrains, nor any clue about any particular site worth stopping by for a short breathtaking view. She was plainly motivated by her furry and pain to mindlessly wonder to such sanctuary, she ought the right place to find peace and solace amid the whirlwind life of being a Chandler heiress.

‘Of all people who would be responsible of taking away of freedom of choice for choosing the man whom she will be sharing the rest of eternity with, why does it have to be the man whom she loved and trusted more than she would to herself?’

Simply speculating about it; and actually learning about it with your own eyes with a solid proof, was two different thing. The latter was more brutal and heart wrecking. She could literally feel how much her chest struggle for air due to the unstable beats of her heart. Adding the increasing altitude as she start to ascend the mountain.

The cold breeze meeting her ahead was sending chills into her spine. It was past summer already and the weather wasn’t all hot, however with the sunny day vibe for today, the temperature can be compared to that of something lukewarm. Good thing she was wearing a long sleeve polo blouse.

The natural scent of sandalwood and weeds intoxicates her nostrils, paying a just price for the bothersome of the cold monsoon wind. Just when only the sounds of the chirping birds and croaking wild frogs are to be heard, the young Feledencian woman let go of the tears she was trying to hold back at the sight of the society.

She was so damned! And she doesn’t have anyone to share the burden with. Her grandmother was old enough to get a heart attack if she learns about her lovely granddaughter’s situation. As for her Uncle Bastien, she couldn’t bring herself to ask for his involvement as his hands were already full of duties and responsibilities for the Anderson’s tea business industry.

She had nothing but herself. And when the pain exceeded the threshold, she would really need to vent out.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!” she shouted at the top of her lungs to ease her trouble and anxiety.

She unmounted from the horse and sat down beside it. Knees folded into her bosoms. Crying hard, she struggled to reopen again the envelop sent from Feledencia, the Chandler’s manor to be exact, where her viscous stepmother was living.

With a blurry vision brought about by the nonstop liquid of sadness coming off her eyes, she tried to clearly read the marriage agreement. She at least need to confirm to whom did her great selfish father engaged her off.

In the very least, it shouldn’t be at least one of Duchess Carlotta’s underlyings. She hoped but to no avail.

The name of the man whom she was supposed to be married into was none other than a man with an infuriating sure name of August, the very clan of her wicked stepmother.

***

‘19 December 1807

Marriage Agreement

Joint by the blessing of our fathers and two legal witnesses, we thereby agreed to join our son, Evander August, and daughter, Francesca Chandler in the sacred Holy Matrimony once they set the date in the future. No any stipulation can be made in contrary to this, unless both parties agreed.

Signed by:

Lius August

(Evander August’s Father)

Landon Chandler

(Francesca Chandler’s Father)

***

The signatures of the witnesses followed afterward, including that of Carlotta Chandler-August.

Gouging her palm into the ground where wild weeds grew, she formed her first into a ball, crumpling the imprinted paper within her hands.

‘Enough with the drama already,’ she encouraged herself. What has been done can never be undone especially when the one who can only reverse it was gone…

Permanently gone in this world.

Even with a pang of hesitation, Francesca pushed herself to hate her father. He didn’t just simply brought a plaque home, he also blindlessly bit into her traps needed to build the foundation of the grand epidemic it was preparing to launch at the right time.

And if she don’t do anything now, such grand epidemic will happen, plaguing not only the Chandler’s material wealth, but also her personal life as well.

Lady Francesca was suddenly taken aback into her sense when she heard some unusual rustles from her behind. The sound didn’t use to be there earlier. And it was too unnatural and inconsistent too even consider a natural phenomena in the forest.

She felt it. Another presence of a man lurking from behind. And her intuition was telling her it was best to keep distance with such presence and stay alert for any possible harm.

Instantly, she stood up and faced towards the origination of the rustles of dried leaves and trunks being stepped into. Holding tight on a piece of wood she hastily picked up before putting on her defensive stance, she shouted:

“Who’s there?!”

“Whoever you are? Show yourself, it wasn’t a gentleman’s attribute to scare off a lady in the middle of a forest,” she argued, trying to lure out whoever were lurking behind the macabric wide stems of the trees and seemingly playing hide and seek with her.

Great! If only she had not rushed here alone, and waited for Lord Dynirho to fetch her at their home, she wouldn’t have had to face such unpredictable danger such as this. But as the old proverbs goes saying, regrets only comes after things had turned out badly as we expected them to be and there were no way we can undo them.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhot!

Lady Francesca literally stopped breathing when she heard the sound of an arrow being released from her behind. Someone had shoot it.