"Uhm... Yeah, I think he healed it..." Aylin said, looking at her plate filled with delicious food. Honestly, she didn't know when he healed her wound because she had only asked him to pull out the glass and that's what he did. "Is something wrong?"
"No, it's just that he normally wouldn't care about someone else not to talk of helping them," Andromeda explained and Aylin nodded.
"Oh, I see…"
So he was cold to everyone?
But wait why did he heal it without letting her know? Forget about that, why did he heal her in the first place?!
Gods! He was so hard to understand!
"Right! I... Uhh, I wanted to ask if you know where my stuff is, like my belongings." Aylin said as she remembered that she'd ask Andromeda about her stuff in the morning.
"Your belongings?" Andromeda asked in confusion.
"Yes, my bag, phone, and shoe. Do you by chance know where it is?"
"Oh, that, I already asked Selena to bring it to your room later," Andromeda replied. She had only recognized the bag and shoes which were a little different from theirs but she didn't know what the flat and long red thing was.
Aylin sighed softly. "Thanks," she said before going back to eating. After all, she didn't need to be worrying about her things when there was so much she needed to do to survive in this place.
"Is the red long and flat thing what you call a p-phone?" Andromeda asked in curiosity.
"Yes," Aylin replied, taking another bite. "I'm sure you've never heard of it, but it's a device that allows you to call and send messages, you could call anyone anywhere in the world. To put it simply, it is used for communication, for example, if you want to talk to someone who is miles away from you, instead of sending letters that will take days to reach them, you can just call them which is like you're talking to them but not face to face, or send a message and they will reply in seconds." Aylin explained.
Andromeda nodded slowly. "Okay...so everyone has one?"
"Yes and it also does a lot of other things," Aylin replied.
"What other things?" Andromeda asked curious about the thing that could let someone communicate with another person even if they are far from each other.
Aylin looked up. "It could play music, you could watch videos, read, take pictures, and do some other things," She replied.
Andromeda looked at Aylin curiously, she couldn't quite believe what she heard, how can such a small thing do so many things? Her world was so different from theirs. If they could create something like that, Andromeda wondered what other things they had.
"That sounds interesting," Andromeda said and Aylin chuckled at her comment.
"Hmm, there are many other things too you know," Aylin stated as she continued eating. The taste of the food was like nothing she had ever tasted making her hum in delight, it was so good!
"Like what?"
"Like airplanes that fly in the air, It can accommodate hundreds of people, and it's fast. Robots, dishwashers, washing machines, and so on. These things made our lives easier." She paused and then her face brightened up as if she remembered something. "And plastic surgeries!"
"Plastic s-surgries…?"
"Yeah, it's a surgery that changes your appearance. For example, if I want to look like you, I could. But if you simply want to improve your appearance, you perform cosmetic surgery. There are different cosmetic surgeries like tummy tuck, rhinoplasty, liposuction, and blepharoplasty." Aylin rambled on while Andromeda kept nodding, intrigued by her words. Aylin went on to explain what the various cosmetic surgeries she listed were and Andromeda calmly listened.
The things that Aylin mentioned, they could do with the use of magic but in Aylin's world it is done with the use of machines like Aylin called it—which intrigued Andromeda.
"You know, I don't like it." Aylin declared after she finished explaining to Andromeda.
"Like what?"
"Cosmetic surgery. It's dangerous. I prefer using make-up if I want to look beautiful. It also works wonders."
"Make-up?"Andromeda asked, wondering how many things she'd learned about.
Aylin beamed, "Yeah, I'm great at it. If you ever need a make-over, I'm your girl."
"Okay," Andromeda nodded and continued eating.
Seeing that Andromeda didn't give much thought to what she said, Aylin dropped her fork, grabbing Andromeda's attention. "Why don't we do this, late today, I'm going to give you a makeover, and trust me, you won't recognize yourself. I promise. So what do you say? Wanna try it out?"
You could say that Aylin had ulterior motives but what could she do? She'd to make the woman like her so that if she ended up not making the sinfully handsome duke fall for her, the woman would still be willing to help her.
And thank God she always had her make-up kit in her bag.
Andromeda stared at Aylin's hopeful expression and didn't have the heart to refuse her so she agreed, a smile immediately blossoming on Aylin's lips.
The two ate quietly for a while until Aylin spoke again, "Right, last night, you told me that you would answer all of my questions later, right?"
Andromeda nodded. "Yes, and I'm sure you must have a lot of questions."
"Yes, I do. So when exactly is 'later'?" Aylin asked.
"Well, I was thinking of after lunch but there's something important I need to take care of first so Gustavo over here will give you a tour of the house," She said gesturing to the butler who bowed to Aylin. "And by then, I should be done."
"Alright," Aylin agreed with a soft smile on her lips.
After lunch, she walked with Gustavo through the mansion, admiring how beautiful it was and how big it was. As they walked through the halls, Aylin noticed that almost every corridor seemed to lead towards one room or another. Gustavo showed her the Living room, the drawing room, the billiard, the piano room, and the kitchen.
As the butler led her through the hallways explaining all of the places she passed, Aylin noticed that the paintings on the wall seemed very lifelike.
Soon they reached a set of double doors with a sign that said 'Library.' Once inside, Aylin was surprised to see how spacious the library was. It wasn't anything like what she expected. There were books everywhere and it almost felt like she was in a fairytale.
"Wow, this is amazing!" Aylin said excitedly looking around. A wide smile was plastered on her face and her eyes twinkled in pure joy as she took in the beautiful view.
Turning to the butler, Aylin asked, "Uhm... Can I look around?"
Gustavo smiled warmly at her, "Of course, please make yourself comfortable."
Aylin nodded and headed towards a bookshelf that lined one wall of the room. She examined some of the spines, smiling lightly at some of the titles. She then turned on her heel and walked to another shelf, examining its contents before finally grabbing an old worn book that caught her eye, entitled, 'Arcelia.' It was a bit dusty so she wiped off the dust as gently as possible before moving to the next shelf.
As she skimmed through the shelf, she noticed from the corner of her eyes that Gustavo had been standing there watching her for a while and she turned to him. "Why don't you take a seat? You must feel uncomfortable standing there for so long."
Gustavo shook his head immediately. "I'm perfectly fine with standing."
"Really?" She asked and he nodded.
"Ok, if you say so," Aylin gave up, turning her attention back to the shelf in front of her. This time, however, her gaze shifted to one particular book, the title read 'The Protectors Of The Light' and her hand moved to pull it out of the shelf when the library doors suddenly opened and a maid walked in, bowing her head.
"Sorry to bother you Milady but Her Grace requests your presence in the garden," The maid politely informed.
Aylin frowned as she stood up "Is she done with the thing she needed to take care of?" she inquired and the maid nodded.
"Alright, tell her that I will be there In a minute," Aylin told the maid who nodded before exiting the library. As soon as she left, Aylin turned to the butler, who was staring at her.
"Let's go?" She said and he gave her a quick nod before leading the way out of the library, and back down the hallway.
"Uhm, I need to get something in my room." She said, turning to the butler who smiled at her.
"You can go ahead and get whatever you want, you don't need to inform me."
"Alright, wait for me, I will be back." She said and hurriedly left there.
When she went into her room, she found her phone, bag, and heel on the table just as Andromeda said. With a wide smile, she grabbed her bag and took out her makeup before rushing out, not forgetting to close the door.
She strode to where she left Gustavo, and with a nod, he continued leading the way to the garden while she followed behind him.
"Thank you for showing me around," she said and he smiled.
"My pleasure, Lady Aylin." He said.
"I can go to the library some other time right? Don't worry, I will ask for your permission before going." She told him, hoping that he'd agree.
A slight chuckle left his lips before he replied, "Of course, Lady Aylin, and you don't need to ask for my permission or anyone else's. You can go there anytime you want." At that, she gave him a grateful smile.
They made their way out of the Mansion and into the garden and Aylin stepped into the sun. She let the sunlight hit her and took in everything she noticed about the garden.
The grass surrounding the garden was a deep shade of green. Flowers of all colors bloomed beautifully and the sunlight glinted off of the numerous petals giving the garden a peaceful feel. Trees surrounded the area creating a perfect shade. There was no sound aside from the wind rustling the leaves of the trees. The smell of soil permeated the air along with the gentle scent of flowers. She closed her eyes letting the tranquility envelop her.
"I see that you find this place relaxing."
She opened her eyes again and turned around. Standing behind the hedges of the garden, a tall woman was wearing a red dress that seemed to flow elegantly with every step she took toward Aylin.
"It's ethereal..." Aylin muttered softly.
"It is, isn't it?" Andromeda who was now standing beside her said with a small smile. "I'm glad you find it calming. My late daughter-in-law was the one who built the garden. She was obsessed with nature, she always loved gardening and farming, for a warrior she sure was fond of plants." Andromeda smiled.
Aylin turned to face Andromeda fully, she wasn't looking at Aylin, rather, she was staring at the flowers with a distant expression in her eyes. Aylin, who wasn't used to this kind of situation and did not know what to say, simply smiled and continued listening.
"She loved it here, and it's probably where she spent most of her free time, especially since she always seemed to get lost in her thoughts here, reading those books she loves reading." She finished sadly.
Aylin looked at Andromeda sympathetically, seemed like she took her daughter-in-law like a daughter, and with the way she was talking about her, it was obvious that she loved and missed her dearly.
And then a chuckle escaped her lips as she shook her head, "It's a pity that none of her children are interested in things like this."
None of her children? The Duke had a sibling or siblings? Aylin thought, surprised.
Andromeda who stood beside Aylin sighed deeply before turning to her, "Let's get somewhere to sit so you can start asking the questions you wanted to ask." she stated, flashing Aylin a small smile.
"Oh, alright," Aylin said and followed her to a table in the middle of the garden. The circular table had four chairs on four sides. It had a tent to shield one from the sun, and there was a flower vase with flowers in it. They both sat opposite each other at the table and a maid arrived with a tea tray containing some cakes which had a strawberry filling and cream on them. They both thanked her and the maid bowed before walking away, leaving both of them alone at the table.
Aylin placed the book she picked from the library on the table and makeup up the kit before facing Andromeda whose eyes were trained on the book, holding her teacup in mid-air.
"Uh, is something wrong?" Aylin asked Andromeda who was still staring at the book, her eyes wide.
"The book..." Andromeda trailed off, lifting her eyes from the book to look at Aylin.
"Is something wrong with it?" Aylin asked, confused at the way Andromeda looked at her and then at the book.
"Where did you get it from?"
Aylin shifted in her seat, "Uhm... The library?"
"The library?" Andromeda inquired.
"Yes, I found it in the library," She affirmed, not knowing why Andromeda was staring at her like she didn't believe her. "Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong. I'm just surprised, I've been looking for that book for ages, I've looked everywhere in the mansion but didn't find it and suddenly you found it," She explained as she calmly sipped her tea before placing it down.
"Really?" Aylin frowned. "Are you sure you looked for it in the library because I saw it on the second shelf at the front? It is not hard to find and it would be weird if you looked for it in the library and didn't find it when I practically had it falling into my hands," Aylin said because the book was too easy to spot between the rows of books in there.
Andromeda smiled, "Trust me, I looked for it but maybe I overlooked some parts of the shelf. Just maybe."
"Yeah, I guess... So do you want it? I can give it to you if you need it because it looked like you searched for it for some time, so I figured you must need it."
"Needed It. I needed it at that time but not anymore. You can read it for as long as you want." She said and Aylin nodded.
"So what did you want to know?"