AC Syndicate: Isolated Files [OS]

Reception [Alternative]

[Continuation of the one-shot "Wedding Day" // [Chapter image by myself].

The terrible day Victoria had just experienced was far from over. It was only the beginning of a bitter life. The young bride was suffocating among the many guests who surrounded her in the large reception hall of the Cameron mansion. Every congratulation she received was a rope that was tightened around her neck. It was torture to have to smile and say thank you, as if her cheeks were being slashed to keep a fake smile on her face for eternity. Although she didn't love her husband as much as he loved her, she felt reassured to be at his side when he wasn't going to sneak in to greet the guests. The weight of congratulations was less painful when he was with her.

Both in her role and in her own interest, she tried not to lose sight of him — to pretend she was going to join him — to spend time with him, to ease her discomfort by hanging on to his arm — the poor thing was not used to being so exposed, to being in such a centre of attention. But despite the relief of his presence, she began to feel hot, to suffocate from the human warmth — although the room breathed superficiality and fakery — and the oppression caused by the hubbub of the chatter.

Among the guests, chatting with smiles over flutes of champagne and glasses of wine, was a young man of the same age as the bride and groom. He had dropped his Assassin's outfit to sneak into the phony world in which Victoria unfortunately lived. He had entrusted his belongings to Rook who had led him to the Camerons' mansion. His accomplice was wisely waiting for his return by guarding the horse-drawn carriage. Some people recognised Jacob and assumed that he had accompanied the scandalous Sophie March. These same people even began to suspect that the textile company director was having an unofficial relationship with the young man. An absurd idea that amused the thirty-year-old, but which did not bother the Frye twin. Only reality was beyond the gossip of these bourgeois idiots who had nothing better to do. He knew what was real to him, and what made his heart beat faster: the Templar's wife, still in her beautiful burgundy dress with black laces. The Assassin sighed at the sight of the young woman who had not seen him all evening, for there were many heads for this long awaited wedding. Seeing her with the oppressor broke his heart, but he understood that Thomas was the only person the brunette could cling to in the hell that was this day celebrating a union.

Clinging to his arm while he talked, the brunette suggested to her husband to get some air. But as she spoke to him, the young man interrupted the discussion with the Campbells. In his mind, it was as if he had seen someone he had not seen for a long time. He turned to her, smiling somewhat embarrassedly, and asked her to repeat herself. Puzzled, her eyebrows furrowed, she repeated her request:

"Could we see the guests in the garden? It would be a chance to get some fresh air."

" I... Yes, yes. Yes, of course. You go ahead of me. I'll join you in a few moments, he promised". "I'm meeting someone."

"Mh... all right. See you later..."

With that, the brunette let go of Thomas, who apologized to the Campbells for interrupting the conversation and fleeing. His interlocutors accepted his apology and let him go towards the entrance hall, where he had seen the ghost pass.

Victoria was left alone outside, enjoying the freshness of the air, much more breathable than inside. As she took a deep breath of the oxygen she needed, a name popped into her head and made her heart beat a little harder. A beat that was a little too loud and heavy, because of the pain she felt. She exhaled and looked around. She had not seen the shadow of a man she would have liked to see today. She decided to look for him in the crowd, although it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. The guests noticed, and some of them joked: