[Celia's POV]
The sheer despair descended upon her after Lucian left, bestowing a tentative smile upon her. Celia didn't know how long she stood there, in the middle of the back garden. The black box had been given back to her, and she was now staring at it helplessly.
How could she reject a man like him? She knew that this kind of love was hard to come by. She was sure that this feeling hadn't bloomed inside of him after she arrived here, but from the time he began visiting the Wilson manor.
Now that she comes to think of it, he hadn't been friends with Austin for more than two years. Why did he visit the Wilson manor so frequently? Why was she thinking of these things now even?
She dazedly returned to her room and sat down heavily on the bed. She wanted to chase after this feeling. She wanted to feel that heart-fluttering emotion and be happy for once, but for that, she would have to tell him about her state…
She felt suffocated. She felt trapped. She left the box on the bed and decided to leave the house, to think clearly. She stumbled out of the room and walked toward the entrance.
"Miss Wilson," Mrs. Gibson called just as she was about to leave. She swallowed back a rebuke and stopped.
Turning around with an inclined head, she asked, "Yes?"
"Where are you going?" She asked.
"To get some fresh air," Celia replied in a clipped tone.
"Did the doctor give you permission?" The older woman asked authoritatively.
Celia found it very difficult to keep her voice level. "Yes."
She had rarely lied to people if her secret was kept unaccounted for. Mrs. Gibson did not question her further and walked away angrily inside. At that moment, Fredrick came downstairs. Both of them nodded at each other before Celia took her leave.
She walked down the cobbled road and took the deserted alleyway until she came in front of the familiar forest trail.
She picked up the skirts as she began walking down the trail. The trail was slightly muddy and there was a light chill in the air.
'Should have brought the cloak,' she thought as she wandered. The dappled rays of the sun filtered through the trees and touched the ground.
Her thoughts ventured towards Lucian and his hopeful words. He looked like someone who would understand, wouldn't he? He saved her from the Wilsons, didn't he? And he also had so many unconventional herbs. He could even research her problem, and maybe find a cure because he was so learned.
However, all the reasons reached one culminating point he might be disgusted and kick her out of the house. In that case, she would not only be homeless and disheartened but probably be shunned by everyone else.
"Celia..." She stopped as she heard the whisper in that familiar tone again.
Mrs. Jonathan. Her heart lurched fearfully.
She looked around to realize that the weather had changed, it had become gloomier and somehow colder. Her heart rate picked up.
She decided to go back. She was hearing things. The woman… she wasn't here…she never existed.
"Celia…Please save me," the woman's voice whispered. She stopped, a gasp leaving her lips. She felt short of breath as a sudden memory flashed before her eyes. How old was she when she saw that? The specter who had led her to their corpse. That drained-out color, the worn-out body as if every bit of blood had been sucked out. What did she do then? She fainted, or… did she meet someone?
Her mind suddenly became foggy, and her heart pounded. She began gasping for breath as she felt her head throb. The whole forest seemed to suddenly move. The whispers did not stop. The voice seemed to become multiple like it was calling out to her from all sides.
She staggered as her eyes began to droop shut. She knew if she fainted here then it would be much later when someone would find her.
A groan left her lips as she tried moving forward, but something caught against her feet and then she felt as if she was falling. She couldn't even yelp as she let go, completely prepared to fall when suddenly something stopped her. No… she felt someone stop her fall.
She opened her eyes with much difficulty when she felt cold fingers caress her forehead. Her vision was bleary, but she heard a voice say in a soothing tone, "Hush little one… you are safe. I am here."
The voice lulled her, and truly made her feel safe. She stopped trying to fight the darkness and finally succumbed to it.
When she woke up next time, she found herself in an unfamiliar room. The room was bigger and darker. She gasped as the memories flooded back to her mind. She sat up immediately.
"Calm down. Otherwise, you might faint again," the duke said from her left. Her head jerked in that direction and she saw him lounging on a sofa with his feet resting on the table in front.
"I… you? How did you?" She croaked out.
"Who did you think caught you while you were about to fall?" He asked, standing up.
Celia opened and closed her mouth. How was he there? She wanted to ask, but she decided against it. She flickered her gaze to her hands. Her hands were still trembling.
Suddenly she saw a glass in her line of vision. She glanced up to find the duke holding a glass. "Drink this. It will help with the shock."
Celia furrowed her eyebrows as she took the glass. She did not have the power to refuse him, not after he saved her.
She somehow swallowed the bitter-tasting brownish liquid and kept the glass on a small table beside the bed. "Thank you. I will now…"
She began to climb out of the bed, when the duke said, "You are not going anywhere until I deem fit." Her eyes widened on hearing that.
"Why?" She couldn't help but ask.
The duke folded his hands across his chest and said, "You were murmuring about someone named Mrs. Jonathan and how she was not real. Why? Why were you in the forest in the first place?"
Celia fidgeted with the hem of the blanket. She averted her gaze as she said, "Would you believe me if I said that I saw someone who is no longer alive?"
There was heavy silence that followed and made Celia uncomfortable. She glanced at the duke. She thought she saw something akin to astonishment but then it was gone.
"Explain."
Celia did not know why she found it so easy to explain this just like she did not know why she had blurted out her surname, but here she was.
"As I said last night. I remember a woman called Mrs. Jonathan, a baker, but one day, she was suddenly forgotten by everyone except me. As if she did not exist at all, but I heard her voice last night, followed her, and then today." Now that she was saying these things aloud, she realized how crazy she must be sounding. She looked at the duke pleadingly because she was slowly realizing how hard it was to believe.
The duke, however, looked like he was listening and considering. She silently waited for his response.
He said, "Why are you the only one to remember her?" He leaned forward, touching her forehead with the back of his hand. She flinched as her feverish skin came in contact with his cold one.
"It is your imagination. You are imagining things." His voice sounded so far away now. Celia felt sleepy again. She wanted to ask why did he think so, but her tongue felt heavy and so did her eyelids.
"Sleep for now, little one," he murmured, but the words were mere whispers to her ears as she collapsed back on the bed, lulled back to oblivion.