Some weeks passed since that day, Oliver got much better and is going to work as he used to, the only different thing being that he gave the responsibility of taking care of the house to Roselyn, giving her, her duties as a duchess back. Meanwhile, Bella is still recovering, after waking up from the coma, she lost the feeling of her legs and can't walk correctly so she stays in bed for hours. In that period of time, Corey visited her almost daily, to ask about her whereabout, he would spend an hour or two in the Bujin's household, talking to Bella and Roselyn, mostly Roselyn though, since Bella didn't want to talk to him that much often.
Roselyn spent her days working, talking to Bella and Corey, practicing her magic and having discussions with Oliver at night.
But today was different, because she is currently going on a patrol around the house to check that everything is ready for Bella's farewell party, the young daughter of the duke was finally attending school, starting from tomorrow, she will depart in the morning and stay in the dorm, like everyone else in the school.
Roselyn didn't think this day will come this fast, the thought of Bella leaving the house never crossed her mind, considering how stubborn Oliver is, but turns out, he is a better father than she thought. Bella condition was better, she could walk without getting tired that easily or collapsing. To secure her safety, Roselyn decided to send Lola with Bella, as a student as well, she is too young to enter the school but Roselyn lied about her age to get her in and it worked.
The duchess wore her beautiful green gown, hair styled and face glowing, walked to the party's hall with her daughter and husband, by her side. The moment they entered the hall, all eyes were on them, specifically on Roselyn, the very young duchess, who married an old man to get his money when he dies, at least that's what they all thought, because why else would a twenty-one-year-old marry a fifty-year-old man with a daughter.
Everyone stared but none tried to approach her and Bella, their husbands told their wives that as soon as Oliver leaves, they should talk and make her favor them, while they talked to the duke. Unfortunately for them, Bella didn't let anyone approach them, every time someone tries to, they either move away or ignore the person and pretend to be talking, it worked for a while but not for that long, because soon after, they got overwhelmed with people and they got separated, Roselyn surrounded by middle aged women and Bella with girls and boys her age.
Time passed as slow as a slug, by the time Roselyn escaped, three hours already have gone by and the party is going to end soon, it was more tiresome that she thought, talking and dancing didn't seem hard when spoken but when done, it was much harder than expected. She stood by the balcony, catching a glimpse of the night sky and the shinning moon blessing them with light, the cold air made her shiver, but in a good way, she loved the feeling, it was far more enjoyable that the party.
Roselyn stood there, enjoying the calmness of the night, until the quietness was interrupted by an unexpected guest, Jonathan. While looking down at the garden, she saw a man seemingly doing chores, but it was late at night since that couldn't be possible. She later recognized the man to be Jonathan, when the moonlight reflected on the lake in the garden.
At first, she didn't pay that much attention to it, until Bella came in the scene, she could see Bella approaching where Jonathan is, making her remember their first meeting in the book. Bella heard Oliver and Roselyn fight so she came out of the house and met Jonathan in the garden, for the first time and they fell for each other almost instantly, just like in a fairy tale. If this is the same Jonathan as the hero, then it's bad, really bad, she has to stop them from meeting. Roselyn couldn't take the chance that this might not be THE Jonathan, because if it is then everything will be ruined.
So, she decided to jump, jump from the balcony, well she didn't literally jump, Jack helped her, he held her in his arms, while she held tight to his neck, and closed her eyes tightly, while he jumped down.
The moment they reached the ground, she opened her eyes, lucky for her, Jack didn't let her get hurt, standing steadily, with her still in his arms, as he stared at her face, that lost half of its colors, but still as beautiful as ever, he gently put her on the ground, supporting her for a few seconds, because she was slightly shaking.
"Go watch Bella and don't let her come near this area." Roselyn told Jack, acting though, like she wasn't acting like a new born goat a few minutes earlier.
"Yes." Jack replied in a monotone voice.
"And try to be less...dead inside." Roselyn added, glancing at Jack's dead eyes, that almost made him look like a corpse, or always bored out of his mind.
"I don't know how that will help but I will try my best." Jack said, with a less monotone voice and a smile, that was more fake than someone, who is dead inside.
"Thank you." Roselyn said then went to look for Jonathan, to lessen his chances of meeting Bella.
She walked to Jonathan, who was staring at the sky, with a smile on his face, making him look more handsome than he already does; with this she can see why Bella fell in love with him, at first sight, she would too if looks were her thing, but she is not here to admire him, she is here to kidnap him away from his female lead.