RAIS POV
"You did something you shouldn't have done without my permission. You thought you were doing the right thing, but as far as I'm concerned, what you did was not necessary. I find myself carrying this burden."
"A burden?"
"Yes, a burden because a long time ago I made a promise to myself. You don't need to know what it is. I don't want Cassandra to know about this burden."
"What would happen if she found out?"
"I'll go... on a journey..." she said, smiling slightly.
Hazel looked at her doubtfully, "You wouldn't dare to leave her a second time, would you?"
"Hazel, can you leave me alone now?" Harmonie finally said after a long silence.
Hazel looked at her blankly, gave Adélaïde a quick look, and then left.
Harmonie stayed in her room for a long time, wondering what to do. She had to stop letting Cassandra face everything on her own. She needed to stop running away from her fears and face them honestly.
Finally, she made up her mind and left her room, carefully wrapping pillows around the child.
She went to the guest room where Cassandra was, hesitated to knock, but told herself not to think too hard and just do it.
...
The door opened, and she felt her heart beat a thousand miles an hour.
"What are you doing here?" said Cassandra, her eyebrows furrowed.
Harmonie looked at her with an expression that for once was difficult for Cassandra to decipher, then sighed, "We need to talk..." she said quietly.
Cassandra looked back at her without saying anything, suddenly feeling the urge to slap her, but violence is never the right choice, she told herself.
Then she saw Harmonie reach for her hand, but Cassandra avoided it.
"Don't touch me."
Harmonie pulled her hand away. Then she looked at her hand with a pensive look, then raised her head and asked quietly, "Can I at least come in?"
Cassandra looked at her, wondering if that was the right thing to do, but after a few more seconds of thought, she decided that they really needed to talk.
Hazel's side
"I think she'll understand you, because I'm not going to lie to you, if I had been through the same thing, I might have acted the same way you did, for the simple reason that it had a huge impact on you, that event. And if I were you, I probably wouldn't have been able to control myself either. But!"
"I would have done it privately, with only those involved, and I wouldn't have used violence. You're lucky that Harmonie didn't return the blow, especially since she's upset right now."
"You're right. I just hope it doesn't have a negative effect on her and Cassandra," Valérie said, her tone full of regret.
"I don't think it will, they'll be fine, and I rather think it's something else that will harm them," Hazel said in a mysterious tone, as if she knew something important.
Valérie raised her head and looked at Hazel, who was driving, with a questioning look on her face.
"What are you talking about?"
"Something that doesn't concern us," Hazel replied quietly, smiling and confirming that she did know a few things. Valérie, having decided that she had caused enough trouble already, asked no questions and had no desire to know.
"Anyway, you should go and apologize to her tomorrow."
…
The next morning
"You've seen the room, right?"
Chloé smiled back, "Yeah, it's a big mess. She really let loose."
"She'd thrown the first object, which was a vase, and since I didn't stop her, she kept going. I think she expected me to stop her, but I didn't," she shrugged, "and most of all, she needed to let off steam."
"Fortunately, Adélaïde took the situation very well this morning. I think the fact that she already loved Cassandra helped her take the situation better."
"And especially our brainwashing," Chloé said, laughing.
"It wasn't brainwashing. We just made sure that we spoke things clearly to her. She understands our little one, she's sharp, not like some people," she smiled and Chloé rolled her eyes.
"I have a question," Chloé said in a serious tone, Harmonie looked at her and got a strange smile on her face, she had a little idea what Chloé's question was.
"You know who Adélaïde's other blood parent is, don't you?"
Harmonie's fists clenched without Chloé noticing, "What made you think of that?" she said in a tone that Chloé found strange.
"Yesterday, you and Hazel took some papers out of the envelope. And I think it must be another DNA test. So I think you know who it is."
Harmonie smiled weakly, released her fists, and nodded.
"Did you tell her?" Harmonie shook her head with a straight face.
"Then why didn't you tell her?" asked Chloé, frowning slightly.
"They don't need to know," Harmonie replied simply.
"What are you talking about-"
"Believe me, Chloé, they really don't need to know, and more importantly, the person in question didn't need to know."
"How could you possibly know? Do you know this person?" said Chloé in shock.
'That was what she didn't want to tell Cassandra. And we assumed that she... Bloody hell!'
"Let's stop here," Harmonie said looking at her, Chloé looked at her with a questioning expression, and then her face gradually turned to shock.
"No? Seriously, why -"
"Chloé, seriously, let's stop talking about it and stop trying to guess what I'm thinking. You know me, I don't do things without a good reason. And like I said, they didn't need to know."
Chloé, seeing Harmonie's serious face, stopped asking her questions and tried to change the subject. What she didn't notice was the way Harmonie phrased her sentence. Instead of using "don't need to," she said "didn't need to," as if Adélaïde's other parent already knew. Is that really the case? Who are they?
"Well, I didn't come here to talk to you about that. I wanted to ask you if you could accompany me somewhere without disturbing your lady."
"The sun hasn't even risen yet."
"I know, but it's important."
"All right, let me get ready."
"Dress well, it's important. Don't be too formal, either."
Chloé, who had turned to open her door quietly so as not to disturb Sylvia, just raised her hand and gave a slight wave.
...
"Well, I didn't manage to be discreet, so wifey decided to accompany us, she apparently doesn't trust me."
Harmonie saw her smile stupidly at Sylvia, and Sylvia rolled her eyes at Chloé.
Harmonie turned and ignored them as she walked to her car, with Chloé and Sylvia following.
Chloé got into the car in the passenger seat, since Harmonie would be driving.
Chloé decided to turn around to see if her lover in the back seat was doing all right.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, sitting back a little in shock. Harmonie started the car. She glanced through the rearview mirror behind her, then smiled slightly.
"Now I understand why you asked us to dress up and why your outfit is so formal," Chloé said, looking at Harmonie's custom-made three-piece suit.
'Pretty boy looks pretty sharp today.' She thought.
...
A few hours later
"Hey, Cassandra! How's it going?"
"Hi, Théo. I'm fine." Cassandra said, smiling as she saw her bestfriend through the screen.
"Well, from what I can see, you don't seem to miss me," Théodore said with a wry smile, a gleam of amusement in his blue eyes.
"What makes you say that?"
"The smile set in your face."
Cassandra continued to smile wordlessly.
"By the way, where are you now? This doesn't look like your room in your apartment." Théodore asked curiously, looking around Cassandra.
"I'm in Harmonie's room."
"No! Are you at her parent's right now?"
Cassandra shook her head, "You really missed a lot. I'm in one of the rooms in their mansion. Her family lives in Lième."
"Mansion?"
Cassandra nodded and added, "She doesn't live here alone. There's Chloé, sometimes her aunt, Hazel and Valérie, and the employees who live here with her."
"Your sweetheart is your sugar mommy," Théodore says with a grin.
"No, and she's younger than I."
Theodore thought quickly and said, "Your sugar baby, then?"
Cassandra rolled her eyes and smiled, "It doesn't work that way. Besides, it would have been sugar daddy."
"Kinky." He said, making a face.
"Well, what have I missed since I went on vacation?"
"Plenty. If only you knew..." Cassandra didn't finish her sentence.
"Exactly, I want to know everything before I come back."
Cassandra bowed her head and said nothing more.
Théodore soon realized that something was wrong.
"What's going on, Cassandra?"
"Remember what happened three years ago?"
...
"What!?! She wouldn't tell you!" Théodore shouted.
"Calm down, Théo..."
"Calm down?!" He said incredulously, "Cassandra, she didn't want to tell you anything!!!"
"Theo!" Cassandra said in a more serious tone without raising her voice, but Théodore calmed down anyway.
"At least let me finish... And just for the record, she swore to me that she wanted to tell me the truth, she didn't lie to me. I'm sure of it because her eyes can't lie to me, she's incapable of it. She lets me read in her like an open book."
"Well, let's continue..."
....
"Wow!" Théodore exclaimed again in amazement.
Cassandra gave a small smile, then said, "That's not all, Théodore."
"I'm listening."
"You remember I told you she left three years ago without telling me, right?"
Théodore nodded, then Cassandra continued, "And you know that Harmonie and I got back together very quickly, even without explanation and without naming our relationship..."
"Ah! I didn't know that. I thought you were still in the flirting phase, fooling around." Théodore interrupted.
"Well, now you know. And we're not fooling around." She says, rolling her eyes.
"Well, back to the point. There is one thing I didn't want to tell anyone about Harmonie's departure because I felt that it only needed us involved."
"I'm not surprised." Théodore blurted out once more, then quickly excused himself.
"She left me a letter explaining herself."
"And?"
"And it allowed me to get close to her very quickly, without thinking too much about what happened three years ago."
"And?"
"And that's all."
"What? You're not going to tell me what the letter says!"
"If I had preferred to hide the letter's existence, what would you think of its contents?"
"Well, I would have tried," Théodore said with a sigh.
"Oh, and I have something to add."
....
"What?!? Seriously!?! And you didn't think of me?!"
"Sorry, Théodore, it was a bit spontaneous."
"But seriously, no one ever thinks of me when I'm not there."
"You'll be there next time."
"And there will be a next time? Who?"
"Yes. Sylvia." Cassandra replies calmly.
"Oh yes, that's right. Do you think it will be soon?"
"It all depends on their decisions." She says, shrugging her shoulders.
....
"What do you say we celebrate the completion of one of our longest missions?" Hazel asked.
"It's more like a short mission, isn't it?" Chloé said quizzically.
Hazel picked up a pillow and aimed it at Chloé, who took it in the face.
"Woman, violence is bad!" Chloé exclaimed.
"Who are you talking to like that?" Hazel said with a threatening smile on her face.
Chloé quickly shook her head in fear and said, "Nobody, and especially not you, Auntie."
"Good, I'll hand out your roles for the party."
....
"By the way, H, I just remembered something," Chloé suddenly said to Harmonie.
"Hm?"
Chloé watched her tie up the balloon she had just finished blowing up and then said, "You started talking about how you and Cassandra got together, but you didn't finish."
Harmonie looked at her, then picked up another balloon and began to fill it with helium.
"Where were we in the story?" she asked as she tied off the balloon and then let go.
"You were talking about how she ignored you and then came to your house, and you were sick..."
"Hmm... I see," she said, picking up another balloon and quickly blowing it up with her mouth before tying it up and starting to play with it, juggling.
"When I opened the door, I was really afraid that she would still be mad at me for acting so childish. I let her in with several seconds of awkward silence. I invited her to sit in the living room and asked her if she wanted something to drink, she said no. But I put my cup of tea on the table and my blanket on the sofa. Then I went to the kitchen and got her a pitcher of water and a glass." She continued to play with the ball, then stopped and continued her story.
"I was sitting on the sofa, but not next to her. I was at the end of the couch watching TV. The atmosphere was a bit strange because I soon realized that we'd first kissed in exactly that spot."
"In addition, I appeared to be calm on the surface, but the situation enormously stressed me, I had sweaty hands that I kept wiping on my legs under the blanket. Despite all this, I soon realized that I still had a crush on her." She had a slight smile on her face as the memories resurfaced.
"To stop being so weird to each other, I decided to speak up and apologize again for my behavior. Then I told her that she was right and that I had no right to interfere in a matter that didn't concern me."
She looked up quickly and said to Chloé before smiling, "I was feeling a little bitter about the situation."
"For a few seconds she was silent, probably not knowing what to say to me, then she turned back to me. I didn't dare look at her, so I kept my eyes on the TV while I drank my tea."
"She surprised me afterward by apologizing for the way she'd reacted when I hit the other one. I told her no, she was right to be upset, but afterward I finally looked at her and asked if that was why she was ignoring me."
"She was silent again and lowered her head. Then I put my cup of tea on the coffee table."
Harmonie looked at Chloé and said, "You know, I've always had this side of me that doesn't insist on things that might upset me. Her silence at that moment was for me the end of something that hadn't even begun."
Harmonie looked down at her hand and began to play with the silver ring on her ring finger and said, "I told her I understood and got up with my cup of tea, I wanted to take it back to the kitchen and also escape from the situation that I found a bit suffocating."
Harmonie smiled again, "I wanted to escape for a moment, because I felt the tears coming, and I wanted to collect myself before I continued the discussion. But then she got up too, and since I had to walk in front of her to get out of the living room, she intercepted me."
Chloé saw Harmonie raise her head again, but her friend wasn't looking at her, her gaze was far away.
"I had my head down, I didn't want to look at her. She put her fingers on my chin and lifted my head. Tears began to fall from my eyes. I think that this was when she realized how much her silence had hurt me. She wiped away my tears as best she could, telling me not to cry, but in a very gentle way."
"She also asked me to look at her, which I tried to do through the tears. And she apologized..."
...
"I'm sorry, baby, I'm so sorry. I was indeed upset, but I shouldn't have ignored you. Please forgive me. Forgive me," Said Cassandra.
"H"
"H !"
"H!!!"
...
Harmonie snapped out of her stupor with a start,
"Hm?"
"Are you okay?" asked Chloe.
Harmonie nodded and said, "Yes, I'm fine. All of a sudden, she apologized, and I accepted her apology because she made it very clear to me very quickly that she was just scared, and now that I think about it, it's kind of ironic given our situation right now."
Chloé nodded and Harmonie continued, "After that, the atmosphere was pretty weird, it's pretty weird to explain. It was peaceful, but also full of tension. We took advantage of each other's presence at our side and started talking about anything and everything, it made me feel good."
"Mummy came home and saw us together. It was the first time they'd met. Mummy made her feel at ease very quickly, Cassandra confessed to me later. I'd left them together because I had to pick up the others from a mutual friend's house after the friend's birthday party."
"Princess and Cassandra got along very well. She didn't want to let go of Cassandra. We played a little board game before Cassandra told us she had to leave because her father was coming to pick her up."
"I walked her down the stairs of the building, and we had our second kiss, I said goodbye, I watched her go to her father's car, she waved at me, I did the same and then when they left I went home and I couldn't stop smiling like a big idiot and even Mummy didn't understand why."
"I forgot to add that Cassandra's parents didn't take the blow I gave the other one too badly. It seemed to make them laugh. Afterward, it was as if it had brought us even closer together, and we didn't really know how to let go. And it happened a little bit at a time, but later we officially became a couple."
Harmonie looked at Chloé and said, "It's a little complicated to explain the process because I don't remember all the details, but that moment contributed to us becoming a couple. But I admit that technically we were already a bit of a couple in that we acted like one and had the same expectations of each other as a couple, but we didn't make it official right away."
"I understand," Chloe said, then smiled and added, "Let's get on with it before Hazel comes and gives us a hard time.
...
The decorations were ready, and the trio of Hazel, Chloé, and Harmonie only had a few things left to buy, and it was a little farther than expected, but luckily they'd driven.
But -
....
"King, we found them, our first hunch was right. And we've got a team ready to act."
"So, what are you waiting for?" The man on the throne roars.
....
*Crack*
The cup Cassandra held in her hand shattered, and she bent down to pick up the large pieces.
Then she hissed as she stood up, she cut herself a little, a drop of blood appearing.
She froze, her gaze fixed on the blood at the end of her middle finger.
A hand came to rest on her shoulder, startling her.
"Are you all right?" Sylvia asked, Cassandra was slow to answer but finally nodded.
"Yes, I'm fine. I just don't have a good feeling about this. It's weird," she said as Sylvia picked up the pieces with the small shovel.
Sylvia also stopped as she stood up, the feeling she had was like her heart had missed a beat for a moment.
She quickly recovered and threw the debris away.
Without understanding why or how, several people, without knowing it, were touched by the same sensation as Sylvia at the same moment. And they all agreed on one thing.
.
.
.
.
.
That it didn't bode well.