Chapter 278: Facing Her Demon
On her bed, holding her in his arms, with her mesmerising scent lulling him to sleep, Arthur felt very blissful.
How long have I been dreaming about this again? TEN YEARS! And it finally came true! She’s here, with me.
"Fred..." Her low voice made him come out of his bliss. He is happy, but she seemed out of sorts.
"I feel weird stepping here after a long time. This place looks very surreal... I mean, I recognise everything and I know I’m back home... But I feel unfamiliar at the same time if it makes any sense," she said with her eyes closed.
When she walked through the garden and the long hallways of the castle, she felt like she was in a place where she doesn’t belong anymore. She felt distant.
and he hugged her close. " At least I recognise most people here and their usual affection gives me more sense of familiarity. Sebastian is very happy to see me, isn’t he? And Mrs. Grey, I didn’t think I would see her with her head full of grey hair. She used to maintain her appearance very well in the past and I thought she’d cover her greys, but she still looks awesome. She sat by the bathtub watching me, like she used to. And Mr. Swenson remembered to bring me my favourite roses... "
Talia went on and Arthur listened to her silently caressing her hair. As she spoke, he remembered the story of ’The Sleeping Princess’ he read to his niece. The bad fairy curses the Princess and the prophesy is fulfilled and the Princess falls asleep for a hundred years. The good fairy thinks ahead and makes everyone in the kingdom sleep together with the Princess so that when the Princess wakes up, she won’t be feeling alone and lost with no familiar people around her.
Jerome Brunton knew it didn’t he? Loyalty is not the only reason he kept the staff working in the residence from leaving or retiring, isn’t it? Jerome didn’t have superpowers like that fairy to freeze time, but he wanted to keep his home as identical as possible for his granddaughter’s return. He wanted his granddaughter to feel familiar in her home when she returned.
That kind of love for Talia and wisdom that made him make plans for the distant future... Arthur admired Jerome more and more.
He felt like he had a great responsibility towards Talia. The one thing Jerome asked of him was to make Talia happy. He knew he still has room to grow. He still gets jealous unnecessarily and made her cry.
He was loved by his family, but no one had coddled him this much. But she is used to this kind of codling, isn’t she?