The train departed from King's Cross Station and began speeding forward. Catherine, who had been behaving relatively well until the station was out of sight, finally couldn't hold back and jumped up with a cheer.
"My dear, are you really that excited?" Kate, sitting across from her, glanced out the window. The Mason couple had long since disappeared from view.
"No, no, no, Kate, you don't understand," the little girl said, waving her finger triumphantly. "This is my first time traveling alone, my first time spending the night away without my parents around. My goodness, for the first time in 11 years, I finally get to leave their embrace and explore the world on my own. How could I not be excited?"
Seeing Catherine, who was almost incoherent with excitement, Kate playfully knocked on her head. "Cathy, you're not exactly traveling alone. I'm with you, and you should understand that Mr. and Mrs. Mason only allowed you to go on this trip because I promised them I'd not only ensure your safety but also keep you from doing anything you shouldn't. You wouldn't want to make things difficult for me, right?"
"That's different, dear Kate. Even if my parents weren't around before, there were always relatives taking care of me. But this is different—we're good friends, like sisters. Surely you'll understand a bit of harmless mischief?" Catherine smiled cheekily, making Kate feel like she had boarded a pirate ship. She shook her head helplessly, deciding to ignore her and instead pulled out a book from her travel bag to read.
"Oh, don't be like that, Kate. Talk to me, will you? How about discussing my movie or your movie?"
"If you don't want to talk about that, we could chat about how we're going to explore Edinburgh—the Royal Mile, Edinburgh Castle, or the Palace of Holyroodhouse?"
"Well, if that doesn't interest you either, then tell me how life at Cambridge is going."
But no matter how much Catherine talked, Kate remained unresponsive, even though she was clearly suppressing a smile. Frustrated, Catherine could only pout and slump back into her seat. From this angle, she noticed how different Kate looked compared to six months ago. Her hair had grown much longer, and the tomboyish vibe had almost completely disappeared, replaced by the soft femininity she now possessed. Yet there was still a hint of youthful innocence in her expression. Wait, how did she even know what "youthful innocence" was? And why was she suddenly having such inexplicable thoughts?
The little girl shrugged, an idea suddenly popping into her head. She pulled something out of her backpack and began fiddling with it. Kate, who had been half-reading and half-keeping an eye on Catherine, soon became fully engrossed in her book. Then, a small drawing on a piece of paper, about the size of two palms, suddenly appeared in front of her. Kate blinked in surprise. It was a simple pencil sketch of a woman resting her head on one hand and holding a book with the other, sitting by a window and reading quietly. With just a few strokes, the drawing captured the woman's serene expression perfectly.
"Your drawings are as beautiful as ever," Kate said with admiration as she took the paper.
"Oh, Kate, if you keep complimenting me like this, I'll get embarrassed," Catherine giggled, shrugging, showing no sign of modesty.
"This must be the fourth one, right?" Kate suddenly said. She rummaged through her travel bag and pulled out a small notebook, inside which were three other portraits of her at different ages.
"This is the first one—I remember you drew it when I was 13. You were only 6 at the time. It's amazing you were already this good at drawing back then. And this one is from when I was 15. This last one was from Christmas the year before last. Time really does fly by." Looking at the sketches in her hands, Kate sighed. Then she noticed something odd and looked up to find Catherine staring at her unblinkingly.
"What's wrong?" Kate waved a hand in front of her, asking curiously.
"Nothing," Catherine suddenly sighed. "Time does fly by. In the blink of an eye, you're in university, and I'm about to start secondary school, but…"
She playfully stuck out her tongue. "It's rare to see you've kept all these drawings."
"Of course! If you become famous one day, these will fetch a good price," Kate teased, waving the drawings playfully. But even as she joked, she carefully tucked the sketches back into her notebook.
At that moment, a male voice interrupted them. "Hi there, ladies. How are you?"
Kate and Catherine turned to see a young white man in his twenties standing in the aisle. Although he wore a smile, it came off as forced, with acne clearly visible on both sides of his nose.
"If you don't mind, may I sit here?" he asked, pointing to the seat next to Kate.
Before Kate could respond, Catherine had already spoken up. "Actually, we do mind. My sister and I rarely get the chance to travel together, and we'd like to have a private conversation. Could you not disturb us? Besides, there are plenty of other empty seats. You don't have to sit here, do you?"
"Oh, well, alright then. I'm sorry." The young man, clearly embarrassed, quickly left.
Kate looked at the little girl in confusion. "Cathy, don't you think that was a bit rude?"
"Don't tell me you didn't notice, Kate. It was obvious that guy was trying to hit on you." Catherine shrugged.
"Yes, I know he was trying to hit on me, but you were a bit too blunt."
"That won't do, Kate. You're mine, and no one is going to take you away from me!" The little girl raised her small fist seriously. "So with people like that, you have to be straightforward and reject them outright!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Catherine froze. Why had it been so easy to say no just now?
Kate didn't notice Catherine's sudden distraction. Instead, she rolled her eyes, remembering the time the little girl had even asked about her love life. Helplessly, she said, "Alright, alright, I'm yours."
With that, she lowered her head to continue reading, but Catherine, who quickly snapped out of it, scooted over and began shaking Kate's arm vigorously. "Don't be like that, Kate. Darling, talk to me, won't you? We're on a trip, aren't we?!"
Kate, having been shaken until she had no choice, set her book down again and sighed. "Alright, what do you want to talk about?"
"What do you think of my movie? Oh no, no, no, let's talk about your roles in films or on stage instead. By the way, you mentioned you had a small role in that movie starring Catherine Zeta-Jones. Did you get to meet her? Is she as beautiful as they say?"
…
Around 5 PM, the train finally pulled into Edinburgh Waverley Station. Although Catherine had been chatting enthusiastically with Kate throughout the journey, even she couldn't help but feel a bit weary after the long seven-hour ride. Fortunately, the bus station was only 200 meters away from the train station, and they quickly caught a bus into the city center.
Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, is situated in the central lowlands of Scotland, on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth. Covering approximately 260 square kilometers, it's a historic and scenic cultural city, surrounded by hills and water, with diverse landscapes. It's often referred to as the "Athens of the North." Catherine had visited before, but that was when she was around four or five years old. Back then, she had to follow her parents wherever they went, with no freedom to explore on her own.
Although she had long been planning a solo trip—or rather, a trip without her family around—her plans were far from complete. This time, she had been pushed into it. After the New Year's Palace banquet, the family was supposed to spend two days at Front House in Bristol, as per tradition. Although the surroundings there were beautiful, not inferior to the manor, the old house, which had been the Albert family's residence for generations, was simply too large. Many parts of it were eerily quiet, especially that long corridor filled with portraits of ancestors. Every time she passed through, the little girl felt as if all the people in the paintings were watching her, making her neck feel chilly. If she had to pass through it in the pitch-black darkness of night, holding a candle, the slightest sound would scare her to death. If she could, she really didn't want to go.
So she secretly called Kate and arranged this trip. Of course, she was vague about whether her parents had agreed. She first subtly brought it up to her Uncle Frank, then casually mentioned it to Aunt Winnie, who was closest to her mother. She also used Gerard, the butler, to drop hints to her grandfather before finally revealing her plans to her parents. Even after all this preparation, her parents were still reluctant to let her go due to their concern. But after Catherine's persistent pleading and considering that the destination was just Edinburgh—still within the UK—and knowing how stubborn the little girl could be when she set her mind to something, they eventually agreed. After all, this was the same little girl who had run away from home at the age of four.
The next step was, of course, to meet up with Kate and go over everything, asking her to take good care of Catherine. Kate had always been on good terms with the Mason family—ever since she had found the runaway little girl—so the Mason couple felt comfortable entrusting Catherine to her care. However, Catherine knew that her grandfather had definitely contacted someone at Scotland Yard to keep an eye on her. He certainly didn't want a repeat of the chaos that ensued the last time she ran away from home. But that was fine. Having chosen Edinburgh, Catherine had already prepared herself for this. In fact, she chose Edinburgh to show that she wouldn't cause any trouble this time.
Of course, there was still a little bit of mischief. Although the original plan was to fly, for some reason, Catherine insisted on taking the train—even though it would take six to seven hours. She also insisted on departing from King's Cross Railway Station. What a peculiar little girl.
By now, the lights of Edinburgh were beginning to twinkle as dusk settled in. Winter in the north always brought early nights, so after wandering around The Royal Mile for a bit, the two of them found a hotel to rest early.