I laid in my bed staring at the wall in disbelief.
It has been a very long day.
I tried to sleep but all the memories started gushing out in front of my eyes all over again.
It was very peaceful in the garden.
The sound of night crickets and water flowing around the fountain as I headed towards it seemed more and more relaxed.
I rubbed my eyes in disbelief as I started approaching him.
He sat near the fountain playing the flute and getting absorbed in it as if the whole world didn't exist.
There was the only person in the entire empire to be this carefree, Joseph Brown.
Joseph Brown, one of the second main leads of the novel, is a person who didn't know how to express feelings directly.
He silently stood behind Charlotte's side and would always give her a weeping shoulder when that asshole Prince Noah was jealous of the other male leads and warned her to stay away from them.
His luminous silver hair and blue eyes which matched the colour with the sky shun in the full moonlight with his ivory complexion.
It was as if he was a piece of art himself!
I was mesmerised by the music that I even lost track of time.
The sound of music slowly faded away as he opened his eyes and found me standing in front of him.
I started clapping and to my surprise started thanking me for listening to his music.
"No no, the one who should be thanking should be me. I have never heard such extraordinary music before. Could you please accept me as your student ?"
He blinked his eyes constantly and asked, "Let me introduce myself first, I am Joseph Brown, son of Duke Michael Brown."
Even though their position is quite less as compared to my family, but their power ranking and connections are unmatched from any other family.
He was staring at me silently and suddenly bent down and addressed me to extend my hand.
His delicate lips pecked my hands as if lovers were parting ways.
I didn't really understand what to do in this situation.
I bowed down a bit addressing to take my leave and left hurriedly.
Joseph stared at Sienna from behind wondering if fate would let them meet again.
X———–———X———–———X———–———X———–———X———–———
Going to the ball or making connections were never a thing for Joseph.
The Balls just meant dark memories as they reminded him of his deceased mother.
His mother passed away when he was five.
Joseph's mother Dianne meet his father for the first time in a Ball like this and fell in love at first sight.
They immediately got married and had Joseph.
But this happiness didn't last long.
Dianne was a victim of abuse as her husband used to vent all his anger on her after his business sustained losses.
He failed to understand who was suffering more, his business or his beloved wife.
This continued for many months till Dianne gave in.
This all happened in front of young Joseph which he could barely process what's happening.
Despite being young, he still knew that something is going wrong, REALLY WRONG!!!
There were times when he used to hide inside his bed crying and rushing towards the garden when the screams of despair grew louder.
He longed to have a normal family who could live happily as others do.
He prayed these conflicts would stop for once.
But one day, he experienced an unusual silence in his house.
He saw people mourning as he passed through the hallways.
He saw his mother lying stiff and pale in a coffin.
He tried to shake her and told her to wake up but she didn't answer.
"My mother is a light sleeper, why isn't she waking up?", he asked his maids and the butler.
He got no response, instead, the butler shook his head.
His father didn't even have the guts to show up at his wife's funeral.
Guilt killed him from inside.
He locked himself in his study and he didn't eat for days.
Joseph swore to get his revenge for his mother.
And has been working to be more powerful than his father to make him experience things he should've experienced.
It was the first time Joseph experienced death without dying.