The first snowfall came without any warning. It landed on the grounds in the manor, and outside the balcony of Aina's room. It covered the wide lake like cotton flowing against the wind it came with, slowly freezing the large body of water from its depths. There was something serene in the way snowflakes fell in the glass panes of her window, and Aina was witness to it as she watched from her bed where she lay lazily, turned to the side with her hands folded against her cheek. Thick duvets were pressed onto her body, and the silk of her nightgown felt cold against her skin. There was wind howling outside, raging against the icy winter morning, and she liked to think the harsh winds were a warning for the people, a wakeup call of the biting winter coming to their country. Finally, winter came, and Aina feels the cold more than ever.
And as she watched the winds, and the snow falling relentlessly, it almost seemed as if they'd keep falling, sealing Edaria in an eternal winter. There was hatred in Aina's mind as she imagined the world endlessly covered in snow. For Aina, who couldn't stand the cold, and whom winter reminded her of a ghostly figure that keeps haunting her, it was a nightmare.
She ignores the man's figure just by the end of her bed as it seemingly gains more power to materialize itself whenever winter comes. The figure hovers, but doesn't move. As if replacing her shadow, the ghostly figure has only ever moved after her. Aina had never been able to clearly see the shadow's face, yet she also saw its silhouette and could recognize him haunting her anywhere. Everyone has a ghost, it hovers and hovers, and never leaves. And though it might seem as if it would never go, you need to remind yourself, that you are the one to decide its power over you. Aina remembered reading from a book years ago, when the figure first appeared to her, during her first winter after the incident. Do not let the ghost haunt you to your death, the book says.
Aina also ignores the small ache in her chest. Bearable, but so uncomfortable it was. She remained on her bed, and stayed observing the snow outside the shut windows. Instead, she finds comfort in the roaring hearth of the fireplace, the smell of burning oak wood, and the warmth of it all. For the past 9 winters that the figure had haunted her, Aina could only find comfort in the lit fireplace of her room. When James was still in the manor, even that small comfort became a luxury for her.
The wooden, carved doors to her room opened, and Aina didn't have to look to see that it was her maid, Allie.
"My Lady, are you awake?"
"What day is it, Allie?"
"It's Sunday today, my Lady" Allie immediately worked to fully open the curtains as soon as she entered. When she saw her lady unfazed, she walked to the fireplace, using the fire poker to aggravate the crackling hearth as she threw another oak wood inside. The maid wipes her ash-filled hands on her white apron, and though it causes a gray mess on her uniform, she doesn't bat an eye. She continued on to the small receiving area of the room, and folded the thick duvet carelessly strung on the armrest of the blue couch, before fixing the silk pillows and fluffing them to perfection.
"Sit down, Allie, you're making me dizzy" Aina finally complains, after she sees her maid's figure in her periphery pacing around the room in a nauseating manner. It was making the ache in her chest more noticeable.
"My Lady, you need to wake. I need to fix your bed, and you need to get ready for your afternoon tea with Lady Leianna" Allie hovers over her foot, and for a moment, the shadowy figure dissipates into air, but when her maid moves forward, it gathers back and refigured itself.
Aina ignores it.
"Oh, right, I forgot about it"
Slowly, she rises from her pillows, throwing the thick layers of duvet away from her and suddenly realizes how grateful she is for the warmth in her room. She slips into her fur slippers carelessly positioned on the floor, and as she stood up, it was harder to ignore the small ache building inside her heart. She reaches her hand to rub circles against the fabric on the center of her chest, and slowly finds relief from the gesture.
"My Lady, we also have to re-arrange your wardrobe for the season" right. I also have to do that. Allie follows her Lady to the bathroom, where Aina bent low over the sink as she washes her face with the pre-heated water that her maid had brought before she woke.
"We'll do it later"
The maid gives her a towel to which she graciously accepts and wipes her face with. When she looks at the golden framed mirror on top of the sink, she sees her own figure. Pale skin, thick and dark lashes, and naturally pink-tinted lips. Her nose was red from the cold, and a dark shadow loomed under her pale eyes. When Aina looks behind her, she notices the figure stood too near.
"Lady Ciana." She flinches when Allie calls her, and she teared her eyes away from behind her to gaze at her maid beyond the mirror. "I apologize for surprising you" Allie looked surprised at her reaction, though the maid doesn't show it blatantly. Only when Aina noticed her cerulean eyes widen for a millimetre did she know.
Aina doesn't speak to her again for an hour. She spent the hour getting ready for her afternoon tea with her half-sister, Leianna. She woke up late, as she always does, but no one complains about it. Not her father, nor her half-siblings. When she is finally dressed for the occasion, she observes herself in the full-length mirror inside her walk-in-closet. A deep magenta colored the thick-flowy dress she wore, it was trimmed with black lace, the color contrasted her icy, pale skin. The dress was high-neck paired with a black neck scarf, to protect her from the cold, and the long sleeves were styled in a juliet. She didn't wear a necklace, but the jewels that hung from her ear were made of the finest diamonds. The dark attire accentuated her paleness, and the pale violets in her eyes.
She takes a step down on the platform before her mirror. As she sat down on a cushion, Allie kneels before her, and ties her black heels to her feet. No physical touch was made, and Aina deeply appreciated her maid for it.
After she was dressed, and makeup was lightly applied on her face, Aina stood, grabbing the black gloves on the vanity prepared by her maid, and immediately wore it. "What time is it?" she asked.
"2:43, my Lady"
Aina watches as she pulls a silver pocket watch from her apron. "Then, we still have 17 minutes left to walk," she says.
The walk to their venue was only a short 5 minutes. The gazebo in which Leianna normally held her afternoon tea with her little sister was closed off due to the oncoming snow storm. And truthfully, even if the storm passes, she wouldn't have any interest in going outside the manor, far from the comfort of warmth. There was a large greenhouse connected to the side of the manor which you could only enter by going through the manor. The greenhouse belonged to the late Duchess, but it was gifted and opened once more to Leianna by their father on her 15th birthday. When the eldest daughter took charge of the greenhouse, what once was a dust-filled, empty space filled with dead plants became a luscious garden with a variety of plants that started a trend for other noble ladies to decorate their own greenhouse.
At the other end of the wing, in the third floor of the manor, were double glass doors, framed by intricate golden cherubs polished to perfection. Aina pushes it open.
The presence of lush greeneries despite the winter storm outside them greeted Aina. There were rows of plum and apple trees, a wisteria at the center, though it stood in a way that gave way for the small platform in the middle where two cushioned chairs sat face-to-face between a circular table. The wisteria tree above hung its lovely branches down, but it never reached the table. Aina wasn't well-versed in Botany, but she knew most of the plants wouldn't have been able to survive outside in the bellowing winds of winter. There was a section in the greenhouse specifically containing flowers of different varieties. Finally, after she finished taking in the view below her, she noticed a path that led to the platform in the center of the large greenhouse started from below her, so she began to walk.
Aina circled down on the golden stairs, careful in her steps. As she rounded, she was able to catch a glimpse of her sister. Leianna stood as she was surrounded by her maids, five of them moving as she gave out orders. Her back faced her little sister who had reached the cobbled grounds of the greenhouse. When Aina looked up, she was blinded by the three, large chandeliers that hung above which shone an unnatural orange glow that provided a warm light over the people below it.
"Ciana!"
Aina looks at the soft voice that calls her. She sees Leianna who now faced her, as she paced towards her swiftly. "I'm so excited you're here. You haven't been here yet, right?"
"No, I never knew the greenhouse was such a magnificent place" it was no doubt that the reason why Leianna had started the trend of decorating a greenhouse was due to her ability to make such a desolate and forgotten place transform into something alive - soft, breathing, and filled with a quiet elegance similar to Leianna herself. The wisteria tree, the soft lavenders that filled the air with their floral scent, and the white roses that symbolizes her - all of these were pieces of Leianna that were imprinted in her very own garden.
"I'm glad you like it, Ciana, would you like to sit down? The maids were just about to finish the preparation of our tea party"
"Is it really a party with just the two of us?" Leianna laughs at her question, the sound light and soft.
Aina steps on the platform just big enough to fit the two chairs and a table. Her cushioned chair was placed coincidentally just below a branch of wisteria that hangs directly above. When Aina sat, she was overcome by a sweet, heady scent that filled her surroundings. It came from above, and had notes of honeysuckle paired with lilac with a muskier undertone. She knew it came from the wisteria itself. The smell eased her, and the pain on her chest that she hid was being relieved.
"It smells nice"
"I knew you'd love it" Leianna sat in front of her. She wore a dress of silver with a similar cut to hers. She smiles at her little sister, positioning her hands, clasping them together as she rests her elbow on the table before plopping her chin on the back of her hands.
Aina feels conscious of the violet eyes that stare at her.
"What are those?" Aina starts another conversation. She gazes at the ceiling but doesn't point her fingers because that would be a rude gesture. "They feel very warm" they feel warmer than the fireplace in my room. Perhaps there was a possibility for her to have them in her room as well.
"Those are holy relics" Aina's jaw drops at the astonishing statement. "They're meant to replicate the summer sun" Leianna added with a pleasant smile as she straightened her posture. The maid around them, who had finally finished preparing the set up of the table, served tea for both of them. A maid with brown hair drops to her waist and whispers something to her older sister.
"You haven't eaten breakfast yet?" The maid went back to her position, they were aligned symmetrically with their hands in front, clasped together, as the five maids stood a few feet behind Leianna.
Aina glances shortly at her own maid who stood behind her. "Oh, I woke up late today, so I wasn't able to eat" Allie, no doubt, informed one of the maids, who informed Leianna herself. There was no need to mention it, but it seems her maid was worried about her missing her meals.
"That's not good" Leianna turns her head around, and one look from her causes three of her maids to nod their heads and leave the premises immediately, probably on their way to get a proper breakfast for her.
Aina feels even more conscious now. Leianna turns back around to her, and she has worry all over her face. Aina just couldn't help but wonder, why this gentle and soft lady who was her older sister, managed to argue with their terrifying father. Her older sister, who worries and fusses over her when she hadn't had breakfast yet, and the older sister who fought for her when their father announced her engagement to Lorian Fremont. Aina never mentioned that she missed a meal, simply because she didn't want to be a bother. But as she looked at Leianna, whose head was tilted with concern, she let herself be carried away, pampered like a child in the eyes of her sister.
"Oh, um, those…are holy relics?" She returned the topic to the chandeliers.
There's no way. A holy relic couldn't have been used, simply to breathe life into a greenhouse. Although it was true that their own father had used them to preserve the Duchess' rose garden, she didn't think Leianna would have done the same. One holy relic is enough to buy a very large land, that is how precious and expensive they are. And as she squints up above her, she could see there must have been 30 relics per chandelier and with 3 of them, there were 90 relics. With 90 relics, she would've been able to buy a small country. Aina's eyes were wide as she began to see Leianna in a new light. As the realization took root inside her, she knew her elder sister was just the kind of person to have been able to pull that off.
Terrifying. But amazing, too.
"Wow. How did you convince our father?" she couldn't help but say, and Leianna's own violet eyes widen as she shows a pleasant surprise for the unexpected question from her little sister. The way Aina emphasized our seemed to make her chuckle.
Aina's cheeks turn a hue of pink as she suddenly feels embarrassment overtaking her.
"It was a little excessive, wasn't it?" Leianna replies.