Stand By Me Darling
Chapter 351: Revisiting Sweet Memories

Chapter 351: Revisiting Sweet Memories

"Are you sick? Are you taking the medications properly?" Arthur asked drying his hair with a towel. They’ve been connected in the call for more than an hour and Talia is still in her bath. She isn’t saying much but didn’t want to end the call either. He took a shower with her watching and even then he could see her eyes were listless as if she was pondering something.

"I don’t know what I should do, Fred. What should I do if the elders are biased? I don’t want to be hated by Lambert. I even wonder if returning to Rosandale was a mistake." She sighed and told him about the rumour Cordelia talked about.

Arthur listened to his grievances patiently and after she finished, he chuckled. "Of course, Iris. Your title won’t tie you to Rosandale and after Louis you’d only go further down the line of succession. By then, your grants won’t be enough for you and your children won’t have anything to tie them to Rosandale other than an empty title and some measly grant. You might want to return to your homeland Esteria then. But if you’re given a Duchy, you’ll own a piece of land there, binding you to stay there. The same won’t be the case for Lambert. He doesn’t need a Duchy to tie him there, since it is his homeland.

Also I don’t think The Dowager is biased. She had two children. The grandson of her only son is currently on The Throne and she would want to give something substantial to the granddaughter of her only daughter. Don’t you think so?" his tone was serious as he gave a concerned smile.

"Well... If you look at it this way... it seems like she is not biased. But still, she only has three great grandchildren. How can she leave one out just because he’s the youngest?" Although she understood The Dowager’s perspective, Talia still felt bad for Lambert.

"Mmm.... You still don’t know everything and nothing is set in stone yet. So be optimistic. This might be a rumour after all." Arthur consoled her. He didn’t like the frown between her brows.

He was disturbed by this news too. If this happens, it would be hard for her to visit Esteria in the future. She’d need to manage the Ducal lands and will have responsibilities over the livelihood of the people there. Also, how can she do the duties of The Duchess of Trenton and The Marchioness of Ashwood? It would drain her.

That old lady is sneaky!

And as Iris worries, it might strain the relationship between Lambert and her. No one can be that saint-like to watch someone else given everything that should be shared with them.

"You’re right," Talia decided to not think about it for now.

"Our high school tenth year reunion is coming up. Want to attend?" Arthur asked. He wanted to change her mood.

"I didn’t even graduate there. Is it okay for me to attend?" Talia asked.

After the death of Cyrus, she still had a term left but she left for Rosandale. When she decided to attend university, she finished her high school graduation in one of Rosendale’s school after she left the mental institute. Only because she scored so well, she was allowed to leave Rosandale.

Ah... I do have led a very strange life!

"You get invitation each year. This year too... wait..." Arthur walked to his study and found an invitation card and showed it to her.

"They print invitation cards for reunions?" Talia was surprised. Her university reunion invitation comes through email and she always sends the RSVP through email too. Seeing that proper invitation from her school made her surprised.

"They print and send them to everyone through mail. You should remember this is Esteria, Iris. There are still some customs that are unchanged. People still think inviting by email is not proper." Arthur chuckled.

"Right! Wait... it’s a month away. And it is held in our school and not in some hotel?" Talia read the invitation and was intrigued. She wanted to visit her school once more and take a trip through memory lane. She had a lot of sweet memories from there. "I don’t even remember anyone from back then other than you and Jordan. Will others be comfortable with me there?"

"No!" Arthur was blunt. "I went to a couple of reunions and the mood will change the moment I enter. So I stopped going. But...this is the tenth reunion and screw them! Let’s go if you want. What do you say?"

"I don’t know. I won’t be permitted to attend such high-risk, low-secure meets after what happened before. "Talia felt down. She knew if anything happens and some crazy did something, they’d blame Arthur for it.

But she wanted to go. She couldn’t attend the graduation ceremony with Fred, but she wanted to attend reunion together. They could announce their relationship publicly too.

"I asked if YOU want to attend, Iris."

"Yes!" Looking at Arthur’s sharp eyes, Talia blurted out her wish but then tried to backtrack. "I mean, I don’t have to attend the reunion. I just want to take a stroll through our school once more and revisit the places we use to go..."

Especially that attic where we had our first kiss.

"Okay then," Arthur nodded. Talia didn’t know what he agreed upon; to attend the reunion or to visit their school. Either way, Talia was pleased.

They talked for some more time and Talia’s mind got relaxed when she went to bed.

---

"You look like a blossoming rose, Celine," Talia couldn’t help but praise Celine as she looked like a flower. Among the other flowers in the garden, she looked the most appealing.

"You... I’m telling you how worried I was about the..." Celine took in a deep breath and paused at the stone pavement. "After the first explosion, news spread fast in the social media even before any news channel reported on it. We all knew you were in the blast, but no one knew what happened to you. Pictures and videos of the raging fire, spread all over the internet. And then there was the second blast and we all were made to believe you were caught in it... Woof!" Celine shivered and Talia wrapped her arm around her shoulder with a chuckle.

"I’m fine, aren’t I?"

"You are! Thank God you are safe! Wow! It was the most excruciating twenty minutes of my life waiting to know if you were safe. Only when we saw Lord Ashwood carrying you to safety, were we relieved." Celine rubbed her face.

That day she was with Walter. They had plans for lunch together. He had an apartment in the capital city and they’d meet there often for meals.

After he declared to her father that he is going to ’court her with marriage in mind’, they often meet for meals and they even went to a flower show once. It could be considered a date.

Walter still hasn’t confessed to her, and after that night of the Ball, they didn’t kiss either. He would hold her hand often, making her weak heart go all on a rampage, while he always had a composed reaction. She still didn’t know what he was thinking and she was in no hurry to find out either. She liked everything the way it was as she believed Walter is trying to move on.

That day, he personally cooked for her. He is not the best cook out there and she had already decided to take on the cooking in the future after they get married, but she really was pleased with the efforts he made.

After lunch, she was cutting some fruits and he was watching her keenly, sitting on the couch, as if he was in deep thoughts. ’Feed me’ he lied on her lap like a boy when she brought the fruits.

Her little heart couldn’t take it and she knew she was blushing red, but she couldn’t control her excitement. Here she is, alone with the man he loves, in his apartment and he is lying on her lap.

She can swear she saw a little smirk by the corner of his lips as if he was enjoying her reaction. After some time, he started feeding her, as he still lied on her lap.

They were chatting about some mundane things and suddenly his finger trailed on her face. Forehead, eyebrow, cheek and his finger paused near her lips.

She thought they were going to kiss; she remembered him saying that he’d kiss her properly once she successfully gets his heart and she got excited.

But then he turned to his side and ended up sleeping. Yes! He slept like a baby on her lap.

She didn’t want to disturb that calm and handsome sleepy face and started scrolling through her phone. And that’s when she came across the news about the blast as it happened.

She didn’t think twice about anything else and awakened Walter. Yes, Talia was the woman in his heart but she is her friend and she might be dead!

She couldn’t gather herself and didn’t even bother to look at Walter’s reaction as he got up.

Moments passed and there it was...

A hot cup of tea before her and the man she loved on his knees in front of her looking all worried. ’You look like you’re going to die,’ he frowned.

At that moment she knew...

He only has eyes on me now!

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