Chapter 62 - - 62 : A night at the town hall
The chatter around the town hall was loud, Leyla herself had been quite busy overseeing the progress of her students' preparations. Just as she'd come out towards the lobby, Mrs. Grever came up to her, face flushed as she saddled up beside her.
"Miss Lewellin, look here!" she whispered hurriedly, "It's Duke Herhardt! He's here!" she squealed rather excitedly. Leyla felt as though a bucket of cold water had just been dumped at her.
"The Duke? He's here?" she hurriedly inquired, looking towards the direction Mrs. Grever had been pointing to, "I thought it would be Madam Herhardt that would be attending tonight." she murmured as she realised Mrs. Grever was right.
Matthias was here.
"Yes, it's the Duke, not his mother who is attending." Mrs. Grever giggled, before cooing in awe, "And look! He even brought his grandmother along with him!" she exclaimed.
It was surprisingly easy to spot the Duke, mostly because of the crowd that had swarmed him the moment he'd arrived. It was the exact moment she was looking at him, did his eyes manage to meet hers.
Leyla felt her chest suddenly constrict underneath his gaze, and lightly tipped her head forward into a bow, pretending as though she was wordlessly greeting him from afar. Fortunately, they didn't have too much interaction as he was quickly swept away by the crowd.
Leyla found herself sighing in relief at his disappearance.
"Say, Miss Lewellin, you live right next to Arvis, don't you?" Mrs. Grever asked, and she nodded, "Then that would mean you see him quite often too?" The missus looked quite despondent that the Duke had disappeared from their immediate vicinity, completely missing the way Leyla shifted on her feet uncomfortably.
"I, well, I guess... sometimes," she mumbled, hands clasped in front of her as she fidgeted, feeling absolutely guilty even though she had no reason to. Mrs. Grever sighed, pouting slightly.
"Ah, how lucky of you!" she sighed once again, "It's sure quite the treat to see such a handsome face everyday. Even at a distance." she finished before moving away to get back to choir practice as she had been charged with taking care of the upper class' performance.