Angelus Carduus

Chapter 16: Hate On Blueberries

Valeria woke up with the help from Myra who bombarded her with questions once she sober up from her pleasant sleep.

"Your Grace!! Did you cough out blood?"

"No"

"Then did you have any headaches?!"

"No"

"How about that pain you had not long ago?!"

"No, yesterday was fine."

Myra heaved a sigh of relief when she heard her answers. After Myra was done asking her many questions, she got dressed in a warm brown skirt with a long sleeve white collar blouse with lace cuffs around the wrist. She tucked the extra fabric inside the skirt making it look clean and neat.

A simple lace corset belt wrapped around her waist, securing the skirt in place.

Myra placed a brooch with a matching colour scheme to the outfit and left Valeria's hair down, resting on her shoulders.

"So simple today?" Valeria questioned, looking at her whole outfit.

Usually she would be wearing a full dress yet today was different from the usual. Myra nodded, tidying up the skirt and blouse.

"The duke said to dress you up in something that you can move more in since today you will be going out around the capital."

"I see." Valeria nodded, accepting the reason behind the outfit today.

She preferred this over those heavy dresses which pulled her down.

"Your Grace, the duke is waiting for you outside." Myra said.

Valeria was about to leave the room when Myra quickly shoved a glass of water into her hand along with a bunch of pills.

"Your Grace must eat these before leaving or else you might faint!"

She sighed but ate all the pills without hesitation. She finished the glass of water, handing it back to Myra before leaving the room.

Aelius was waiting outside the room in a casual outfit, similar to hers. He wore a simple button up white collar shirt with black pants and suspenders. It was a clean simple look yet when he wore it, it looked expensive and stunning.

He heard the door open so he turned over to Valeria who had a poker face.

"Good morning, wife." he greeted but his eyes looked somewhere else.

Valeria didn't care to notice the difference and nodded, "Good morning."

Her eyes were focused on the dark bags under Aelius' eyes. She furrowed her brows, assuming he hadn't gone to bed last night.

"Did you not sleep?"

"..I did..." he answered after a short pause.

"Really?" she questioned, not believing him.

He nodded, finally looking at her. "Yes.."

Since she got her answer, she didn't ask anymore and allowed Aelius to escort her out of the estate and into the carriage he had prepared beforehand.

The ride to the capital was very short, taking perhaps five to ten minutes to reach the main square. Aelius got down the carriage first, extending his hand out towards Valeria who accepted it without a second thought.

"Thank you." she muttered, lifting her skirt up a bit so she wouldn't trip as she got down.

Aelius glanced over at her petite hand that was placed on his. The differences between their hands were noticeable. He could easily cover her entire hand with his.

A sense of nostalgia hit him as he remembered something in the past.

"Here, hold my hand." he said, extending his hand out to a girl who was younger than him by a year. 

She was on the ground as she had tripped over her own two feet. She gently looked up at him before a small smile bloomed on her face, placing her hand in his.

"Thank you."

-

"You haven't been to the capital in a while right?" Aelius asked as they began to walk around the capital.

It was buzzing with people. Some had clothes like her and Aelius while some had fancier and more stylish clothes. In short, Valeria thought the Empire capital was lively, filled with people dressed in european style clothes.

The shops and buildings were just like the ones at the dukedom but it was bigger and looked quite expensive.

'Then again this is the main capital... Mostly nobles and aristocrats would hang around here.'

"Yes, it's been a while." Valeria answered after taking in everything.

'How exciting.'

Valeria and Aelius took their own time and pacing, walking around the capital and stopping once in a while to look inside the shops. After about an hour, they didn't buy anything and Valeria felt slightly parched so they headed inside a cafe which had the new sweet Aelius had told her about.

"Good afternoon, what would you like to have today?" a waiter asked politely.

Valeria looked at the menu before pointing at what she wanted. The waiter wanted her to speak up but not wanting to be impolite, he leaned in, looking at what she had pointed and quickly wrote it down.

"What about you sir?" he asked, turning over to Aelius.

Aelius did the same, pointing at what he wanted.

Waiter: "..."

Why won't this couple speak up when they want to order!?

The waiter kept a business smile on his face and bowed, "Your order will be out shortly."

When the waiter left, Valeria looked around the shop. It had a warm colour scheme with plants adding more live and colour in the shop. Valeria took note of it, finding this shop pleasing to the eyes.

Their order came not long after they ordered, just as the waiter had said. Valeria stared at the sweet she had ordered. It looked awfully familiar, ones she often saw on the television in her room, wasting her time watching.

It was a layered sweet with lady fingers dipped in coffee and in between those layers had a light base type of cream. The sweet was topped off with cocoa powder as the final touch.

She picked her fork up and cut a small piece out of it. She popped it into her mouth, the flavours blending inside.

"Ah tiramisu.." she muttered to herself, taking another bite out of the sweet.

It was her first time eating this sweet and though it was still sweeter than she had expected, it tasted divine nonetheless. Without her realising, she finished the cake within minutes. She stared at her now empty plate before another plate of dessert came into her view.

She lifted her gaze up towards Aelius who silently pushed his plate over to her. He blankly nodded at her, waving his hand indicating she was allowed to eat his portion.

She looked at the dessert which was a slice of blueberry pie. She tried a small piece of it before slightly grimacing at it. Extremely sweet to the point she couldn't take another bite of it.

She placed her fork down and pushed the dessert back to Aelius.

What she didn't realise was her reaction towards the pie was caught by Aelius. He stared at the pie with a heavy heart, taking a bite of it slowly.

'Does she really not like the pie? Or that I gave it to her?' he wondered to himself but never received the answer to his own question.

'I hate blueberries.' Valeria thought to herself, making a note to tell Myra to never give her anything blueberry related.

---

Author's note: i have been looking through my drafts for this book and i'm (>'-'<) hopefully everything goes well~