As the noble high standing individuals bustling through Orira will tell you, engagement parties were absolutely essential, the higher you rank. As a Duke of Lurris, the largest dukedom in the kingdom, an engagement party was certainly a must - with a whole lot of fanfare, wining, dining, dancing, and the gentlemen retiring to smoke, and the ladies retiring to fawn over the ring. But of course, everyone, literally everyone, was curious about the so-called love story between a Duke and an almost commoner. And the engagement party was the perfect excuse to dig around more.
But Duke Lurris was moving back to the Lurris Estate!
"What about an engagement party?" Young ladies all over Orira could be heard sighing. Whether they needed it for a chance to win over the Duke or smuggle out the real story, no one could quite tell.
"There must be something going on," mothers whispered over their fans, wondering why in the world one of the richest men on land couldn't seem to set a date for the party. After all, it wasn't as if he was going to be the one doing any work!
As the dust barely set over Lady Fughal's affair - Lady Fughal had chosen to send an 8-page letter begging Aelis for forgiveness of which only 1 page requested forgiveness, with the rest of the 7 pages fawning over the Duke and Aelis had chosen to quietly fold up the letter and set it aside refusing to respond - Aelis found her attention gobbled up in preparation for her travel.
At some point in their carriage ride back home after the episode at the rundown hovel, Aelis had given the Duke her answer about moving to the dukedom. For a moment, looking at his happy face and brightened smiles, she really did wonder if he loved her, but shook away that thought. There was no way someone could fall in love with someone else just over the course of a couple of meetings.
"What about the engagement party?" she had asked. "Will we have one before we leave?"
"Does it have to be here?" he asked.
She hadn't said anything then. To be perfectly honest, the only reason she asked about the party was that it was a perfectly natural question to ask. And she knew if she didn't ask her mother most certainly would.
"Would you prefer to have it here?" he asked.
"The party? I am very much indifferent to it, my lord." she had said.
And in accordance with her indifference and his eagerness to reach the dukedom, it was not a surprise that they mutually agreed to have the party once she had comfortably settled into the dukedom. Right now, there were more pressing matters to attend to.
Preparing to leave!
Although she knew that there were chances that her engagement would prolong or even likely break off, Aelis was determined to pack up properly from her father's country estate. There wasn't much among things she could call hers. There were of course her clothes, a few select pairs of shoes, and a few ornaments. This in itself would be a huge package. Then there was her collection of books, there weren't many, hardly six or seven, and most were paperbacks. She wasn't in a position to afford a lot of books with the allowance her father gave her. Most of her entertainment came from the local public library. She wondered if there were any staff members she would like as her maids or ladies-in-waiting and found herself shaking her head.
After having ensured that her father had sent a note of everything that needs to be transferred to the dukedom, she relaxed a bit more into her role as the duke's fiancé.
"Of course, I will still continue to refuse invitations," she said as she wrote a quick refusal to another party.
"Why can't you just suck it up and go for the parties, dear?" Her mother would frown almost every single time.
"Leave it be, mother." Aelis sighed.
There was still one matter that needed to be taken care of.
"When is Orsha arriving?" Aelis asked.
There was that small matter of her sister.
Orsha had thus far, been sent to Klein - a beachside resort, with her governess, and they were currently on their way to Orira, at her mother's insistence that the family is together one last time.
"Early in the morning," her mother said, picking out one of the fancier invites.
Aelis had been around six when Orsha was born. It was hard to tell that they were sisters. Orsha had a soft brown shade of hair compared to Aelis's dark coils. Their differences didn't just stop there; for ever sharp feature Aelis had, Orsha had a softer, more graceful feature. Though they had grown up together for the most part, Aelis didn't feel any particular attachment to her sister. Since the last four years, Orsha's health had declined. Their doctor had steadily recommended different healing spots across the country for her to relax in and she had slowly been getting better. Needless to say, this was also something that cost her father a lot.
"That reminds me," her mother said, "Your father and I have been talking to her doctor."
"Is she ill again?" Aelis sorted the stationary on her table.
"No, but he did recommend that we send her with you. What do you think, dear?"
"Send her with me?"
"To the dukedom. That part of the country should do your sister a lot of good too. In fact, she was the one who asked the doctor first. Isn't that lovely?"
"She is barely thirteen. Are you sure she asked for this?" Aelis frowned. She wasn't entirely sure how she felt about her baby sister now following her around again.
"Yes, yes." Her mother winked, "Wouldn't it be lovely to have her around?"
Aelis bit her lip. She didn't know how to tell her mother that she didn't quite feel up to the task of babysitting.