Stand By Me Darling
Chapter 301: Finally Can Rest

Chapter 301: Finally Can Rest

Hearing the rumbling inside the room, Mrs. Grey rushed inside as she waited outside with the door slightly ajar. She was asked by Arthur not to disturb their little lady until she wakes up by herself and to keep a close eye on her.

"Where is Fred? What is going on here? Why didn’t anyone wake me up? What did Lord Lockhart announce? Mrs. Grey? Speak!!" Talia screamed. Some of her loose hair got to her mouth and she blew it out of her mouth.

"Milady... Arthur is..." Mrs. Grey was worried seeing the disoriented little Lady in front of her and her throat closed. The little lady looked the same way the day she left Esteria. Well, not exactly the same way. That day she didn’t say a word.

So is this good?

Talia gritted her teeth seeing the silent Mrs. Grey in front of her and walked to the TV once more. In the podium, Lord Lockhart was still speaking. He was speaking English and Talia understood each word, but his collective sentences didn’t make any sense to her.

When did anyone check my hands for gunpowder? When did I agree to co-operate with Lord Lockhart to find Cyrus’ killer? When did I agree to ’Take the blame to distract the killer’? And what is Fred doing there?

"I shot Cyrus, Mrs. Grey! What is he saying? Why?" Talia paced to and fro in front of the TV. Nothing got to her head and she felt like she was floating in space.

"Milady... It is fine. Maybe this is what Lord Lockhart found out. Maybe it is true. Maybe you remember wrong. I heard the brain sometimes registers traumatic incidents differently..." Mrs. Grey tried to calm Talia down.

"Oh, shut up!" Talia didn’t even try to be polite making Mrs. Grey stunned. "What do you know?"

She decided to go there herself and ask Lord Lockhart herself. She gritted her teeth when she was blocked by Mrs. Grey at the door.

"Step aside! Mrs. Grey, let me go! I need to ask why Lord a Lockhart is lying! "

"You can’t!" Mrs. Grey blocked the door. "You aren’t even dressed properly. Milady, please get a grip of yourself. Stay here."

With a bang, Mrs. Grey closed the door and Talia could hear the latch of the door, being pulled close outside.

"Open the door, Mrs. Grey!" Talia fisted her hands and banged on the door. The big door made with the strongest oak that survived a bombing in the past, didn’t budge a bit.

"I’m sorry, Milady. But I was ordered to keep you inside!" Mrs. Grey with her hand kneading her collar, shouted knowing her little Lady won’t hear it through the door. The entire castle is sound-proofed.

She herself didn’t want to let Talia go, and she had received specific I formation from Arthur not to let her out, unless she’s in danger. This message came just as Lord Lockhart was reading the report and he revealed that Talia was not Cyrus’ killer.

Everyone of them were shocked at first, but then they all cheered and celebrated that their little Lady is let go freely. They all were delighted that there is nothing holding back their little Lady from staying in her home anymore. They all imagined their little lady’s happy face and predicted that their Lady would jump out of joy knowing her name is cleared.

But Mrs. Grey was surprised, it was Arthur who predicted the little Lady’s reaction correctly.

He is right! The little Lady cannot be let outside. She’d scream ’I shot Cyrus’ to the media and everything will go to waste. It is better to guard her here until Arthur returns.

Talia who banged the door until her hands hurt, took a step back. She looked at herself in the mirror over the dresser table at the distance. Her hair was all messy, she didn’t know why there are tears in her face and she still was in her slips.

The TV was still running the press meet and she vaguely heard the reporters still interrogating Lord Lockhart. Talia didn’t understand why it was Lord Lockhart who is giving the announcement himself. Shouldn’t it be the Superintendent or the Inspector General who should be doing that?

Her eyes turned to the window that was tightly shut. She wondered if she should jump out of the window and go to the press meet.

"... One final word..."

Talia heard Lord Lockhart say and she ran to the TV and stood close. The sharp eyes of Lord Lockhart was looking straight at the camera and through the big television that was clear as if everything was happening right in front of her, Talia found her heartbeat race as she couldn’t bear the intensity of the stare. Behind him was Arthur who seemed to hold a poker face, but she could sense the mirth in his heart that shone in his face. She knew him after all.

Are you really happy, Fred?

"My son - Cyrus," Lord Lockhart’s thundery voice rolled in that hall, "till his last breath, Cyrus tried to protect his Princess Talia. And she returned the favour by bearing the name of his killer all these years as the secret investigations were going on. This was a high profile incident and I know why our friends in the press covered it the way they did. The scrutiny was so much for her, she had to stay away from the country of her birth, and she couldn’t return even when her grandfather - The Duke of Oakley got sick. She bore it all and endured it for the sake of bringing the true killers to justice. As a father who’s still deeply grieving for his firstborn, I plead that this incident won’t be brought up by the media again. It can’t be put to words how much my son loved and protected his Princess Talia. For her to be blamed for his death would never have been accepted by Cyrus, if he was given a choice. I know I solely bear the responsibility of keeping his soul from resting in peace, by letting the girl he protected suffer for the sake of my closure. Finally, with her name cleared officially, my son can rest in peace. And I, as a father, request you all with a hopeful heart, to let him rest in peace. Thank you all."

There was a surprising silence in the hall, and Lord Lockhart closed the file where he kept the transcript of the press meet and turned and left without turning back. Cyril, Arthur and a bunch of others followed him out.

Talia felt like fainting, but she held herself to not faint and listened to every word Lord Lockhart said. He spoke without referring to any pre-written material as if it wasn’t prepared, and yet without much pause. But the heaviness in his heart was well presented by his slightly trembling voice.

He spoke from his heart and meant every word he spoke!

Why did he do that? What was in Cyrus’ journal that made him make such public announcement?

Talia turned everything in the room upside down trying to find the journal. But she couldn’t find it.

Did Fred return it?

She plopped on the soft rug on her knees, dejected. She didn’t know how she should feel now. She should be happy that Lord Lockhart accepted her request and didn’t say one bad word about Cyrus, right? Or should she feel bad about shifting her blame onto someone else. Someone else who is not even real?

Finally rest in peace... He says... Where have I heard it recently?

Talia felt deja vu by those words. It was then she remembered the dream she had.

Was that even a dream?

She felt like even the suit Lord Lockhart was wearing in the press meet was the same one she saw in her dream.

Did I really talk to Cyrus’ ghost or his soul?

No! It can’t be! How can the dead talk? I hallucianted him and he said what I wanted to hear. It was not him; it was me talking to myself. That’s what happened...

Talia’s mind filled with various thoughts and she felt like she couldn’t separate reality and dreams/hallucinations anymore.

If I sleep, will I really see Cyrus once more?

Talia wondered and went to the bed and tried to sleep. Maybe she really was too tired, she fell asleep once more.

This time, there was no dream, but there was stillness. A very peaceful silence with a soothing light that made her more and more drowsy. She felt light, like someone is slowly removing the knots in her heart, making her breathe more smoothly.

When Arthur returned, Mrs. Grey was sitting by her bedside, staring at her. Realising his presence, she stood up and as she walked away, Arthur didn’t fail to notice the tear drop at the corner of her eye. He went out and asked everything happened. Locking the door he came back in.

The sides of her hand were slightly swollen by the force she used to bang the door. He covered her hands by his and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

It is over, Iris. It is finally over and you can rest easy.

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