The silver-haired cast a side glance at Seraphina who held a cautious look and a tint of dreadful look on her face. He faintly smiled and continued to say,
"I heard through my father that Lady Seraphina had been stuck in her room for a long time now, which is why I came, according to the wishes of my father to show her around town."
"This is all the idea of my father who wants to see that his further daughter-in-law is well-kept and happy."
Mr. Castiel's lips set themselves into a thin line. He didn't like what he was hearing. His contoured displeased face was quick to be noticed when he voiced out his thoughts. He said,
"I appreciate the kind thoughts of your father, the Lord of our land. But I must say, my daughter is happy and well taken care of in her house and there is no need to worry about her well-being."
The silver-haired man shrugged his shoulders and replied in a nonchalant tone, "I know that Mr. Castiel. My father was only doing that because of his benevolence and I don't think there's any harm done."
"Not to add, Lady Seraphina enjoyed herself and was quite happy that I noticed she would love to go out again? Isn't that right, Lady Seraphina?" The silver-haired man questioned the silent Lady.
Seraphina had so many thoughts running through her head. One was what and where this silver-haired man was getting at. Wasn't he getting back at her for putting the blame on him? Why did it look as if he was knowingly speaking in her stead?
He was right, she needed the freedom now she had seen this job which she was all ready to grasp without the thought of letting go. And one of the ways to achieve this was by freely going out of the house without having to sneak out each time.
Did the man notice she sneaked out of the house? Was that the reason he was suggesting this to her parents? Or was this one of his ways to get her indebted to him?
Whatever his reasons were, she was not going to let go of this opportunity to be free from the hold of her parents.
Seraphina peeked at the expectant faces of her parents, perhaps waiting for her to object to the words of the silver-haired man.
But they were wrong. She knew what she wanted and she will grasp any opportunity that presented itself to her.
Seraphina's tongue peeked out her mouth and she wetted her lips before daring to speak the words that were surely going to turn the gears in her parent's heads.
She finally spoke, "Father, Mother, I apologize if my words come out wrong, but I agree with the words of this gentleman." Her voice was meek and gentle like the dutiful daughter she was displaying to her parents.
Gentleman my foot! Seraphina thought and sneered in her head which vanished the moment her eyes locked with the red eyes of the silver-haired man that immediately returned to the normal midnight black eyes they were before.
Wait...was he angry with her? Seraphina wondered and rewinded her previous speech in her head to check if she had said her thoughts aloud. And no, she didn't say it loud.
Then why was he angry at her? Did her words anger him? Most importantly, more than being angry at her, did she just see his eyes change to red? Or was that her imagination?
If no, then was the man a creature of the night?!
Seraphina's hands suddenly turned cold as dread started to creep up to her heart that skipped a beat either because of what she noticed or because of how the man looked at her now as if he was smiling at her, looking all harmless. But she should know better than anyone else.
This man was more than a cunning fox. Staying and riding with him in the carriage was enough confirmation of the type of person he was.
"What do you mean you agree with the words of the Lord's son, Seraphina?" The question of Lady Lydia jolted Seraphina out of her reverie.
Lady Lydia out of anyone else and her husband didn't like the discussion of how her daughter was not taken care of and was not happy. She didn't like the thought of having Seraphina where she would not be able to reach her and direct her on the right part, and let her mingle with those uncultured ladies out there in their town and empire.
Seraphina noticed the look on her mother's face and was quick to rectify the misunderstanding lest, in eagerness to grasp the opportunity in her front, she lost something more important. She knew her mother well.
"Mother, please do not misunderstand my intentions. I only said that because I also want to go out and talk with other people. I'm always in the house and in my room all day unless Lucy visits me."
"Still, you cannot go..." Lady Lydia began and was silenced by her husband who placed his hand on top of hers.
Mr. Castile looked from Seraphina to the silver-haired man who was arrogantly staring back at him. He swallowed his displeasure over the rude man's behavior and said, "Okay. I permit you to leave the house with him, and anytime you want to go out."
This very declaration from Mr. Castiel thrilled Seraphina so much that all she wanted to do was to jump in happiness. But she knew that doing that would only raise suspicions as to why she wanted to badly go out, especially on her mother's part who if it was possible, would ask her to accompany her wherever she went so she would always see her anytime she wanted.
Seraphina bowed her head in gratitude, she said, "Thank you dear father for taking my request into consideration."
"Hmmm," Mr. Castile hummed as an answer which Seraphina knew that there would be hours of counseling from her father later that night.
"That is great. My father would be glad to hear this. I'll surely relay the message that his future in-laws took to his request."
"Also, considering how the family is financially unstable at the moment, it would also do you good. I must leave now since I brought Lady Seraphina unharmed though I was not welcomed in a hospitable manner."
"I have to apologize, Master William for my lacking manners. As I have somewhere to rush to immediately, could you perhaps have my daughter accompany you in an afternoon tea?"
What afternoon tea, Father?! Seraphina shrieked within herself while staring wide eye at her father.
The silver-haired man's lips curved into a smile behind his mask. He replied, "No, not today at least. I'll have to leave it for another day as I have wasted time more than necessary here."
The silver-haired man dismissed the proposal of Mr. Castiel. But then, there was a future tea with Seraphina which had her glare at him.
"Excuse me, Master William. I hope you don't mind my asking you some questions, do you?" Lady Lydia said with her chin up in slight arrogance. It was obvious she didn't like this man who rubbed it on their faces that they were poor in money.
A nod from the man affirmed his agreement to the question of Lady Lydia.
She said, "I wanted to know if you're the proposed son of Lord William that will be engaged to our daughter in a few weeks coming? And you didn't mention your name when you introduced yourself. Could you do us a favor and clear these for us?"
Though Lord William and Mr. Castiel had proposed to settle the debt by marriage, they didn't know who their son-in-law was going to be.
On hearing the question from Lady Lydia to the silver-haired man, Seraphina's ears perked up and her curiosity to know if he was the proposed groom piqued too.
The smile that others couldn't see faltered from his face. His voice turned from a cheerful and teasing tone to his former masculine voice that left no room for more discussion from the other person.
He said, "You will know who your future son-in-law is soon from my father. And my name shouldn't be a problem considering how I don't know yours except the formal names with use with each other. Hmm?"
"It was nice meeting with you all, I'll get going now." As he spoke, he turned to look at Seraphina with the, 'I saved you once and you owe me twice' look before he walked into his carriage and the shining vehicle left the home of Seraphina.
"I'll be going ahead, Father, Mother." Seraphina not wanting to stay there more than a minute announced. She turned and walked towards the entrance of her house when she heard the voice of her parents.
Mr. Castiel chided her wife, "Why did you have to ask him that? Your question might appear rude to him and you know we can't afford to offend him."
"I was asking a good question, darling. I heard that Lord William has two sons, so I want to know if he's one out of the two. There's no harm done, is there?." Lady Lydia huffed and walked back to their carriage.
Two sons? Seraphina scoffed. They could equally be three sons. She didn't care. What she knew was that this marriage will never happen. And that was final.