Secrets of the lost past

Chapter 4

I went up the watchfloor with a glass of champagne in my hand to intensify the moments coming.
-Excuse me! -I yelled to get the attention of the people needed. -This ball really is brilliant, congratulations to the person hosting it.
Lifting my champagne glass, everyone started clapping, and now, most people were looking at me.
-Okay. I’m not going to be long. This ball is great and all, but still, there seem to be people unworthy of being here. Especially one, to be honest. I suppose we all know our friend Darius, who’s doing surprisingly well in his…rather interesting life.
Ones not looking at me were also fully invested in what I was going to say, they were all ears to see what I had to say about him.
-Well, I’m going to be telling everyone something about him. To make his life easier, you know? So, like everyone, he found himself an amazing girl to praise, yet he was still bored. So bored he wanted someone else, and he did. He did proudly, without any shame in his mind.
I thought everyone knew. Not quite. I didn’t hear the nobles saying or whispering anything. In fact, all I saw were a few side eyes, but nothing special. But I wasn’t stunned. I knew that everyone hated Darius, and even if I said a shocking fact, they wouldn’t react. They probably expected it. But the people playing music were invested, so they stopped to hear my speech more. Other than that, the rest of the nobles brushed my words off.
-Now, onto the second sin. He had another lover before this, but decided to go even worse on that poor woman.
This was not a time to happily announce Darius’ mistakes, acting took place.
-He…he…,-I started. -Abused the woman, without feeling the slightest pity for her. Anyway, this is my time to end here. Thank you all so much for the attention, I hope you all will see more clearly how there actually are people like this in the world. Thank you for listening again. You can get back to the ball now.
The music restarted immediately. But not for everyone to start dancing again. Most people just stayed in their seats, even though I was sure none of them really cared. There was one single man in the crowd trying to find Darius, sadly, he blended into people so bad he couldn’t find him…And get rid of him for good.
I was really proud of myself to drive people onto the right path, like Ella did with me. Who didn’t react the way I’d expected her to. I expected her to be insanely happy and proud, but she wasn’t not at all. If  I’m honest, she was rather furious. She said stuff about her reputation being busted, since everyone knew she was his girlfriend…Not that he cheated on him.
Looking back on my actions, I should have thought about Ella before doing it. I didn’t think because of Darius.
Sadly nobody tended to find Darius, he found me first.
Before I even realized that it was him standing next to me, he was already grabbing my wrist and going somewhere dark.
He took me outside, since it was already dark and we were practically invisible.
I wasn’t really scared. What could he do? What could he do before I would start screaming and then someone would find us and kill him? What?
That's what I tried to do. I tried to scream the hardest I could. But before the sound came out of my mouth, he covered it with his hand.
When I gave up trying to scream, he moved his hand. He grabbed both my wrists and pushed me to the castle wall.
-Alright, listen here for a bit. You need to stop with all your accusations and look in the mirror for a while because I’m not the one who claims I came here from the future…With the help of a ‘time machine’ -he said, his voice filling with a British accent much more than before. It was rather terrifying, but I was enjoying it. I was enjoying how much it all bothered him, how much he didn’t expect anything I did with him.
-I honestly love how you think I will stop. It kind of felt funny for a bit.

It was approximately two days after the ball, I didn’t see Darius on the streets ever since it.
It felt like some sort of fairytale: the evil murderer is gone, and the enchanted town is forever safe from his wrath.
That was my first thought. But not really. He still exists, and I’m sure he will for a long time too. Darius would definitely continue his search for victims to seduce, and then break their hearts in the most cruel way possible. So basically, the enchanted town is not safe yet. That was only the story’s first chapter.
Though the evil abuser isn’t on the streets now, his doppelganger is. And not just in any way. Darius’ brother cannot walk, I mean I think so. He takes fancy carriages everywhere, even to the places he could easily walk to.
Any place his foot touches, anywhere he is, at least two or three servants are also there, running after him to please their lord. He moved into Darius’ manor, so now, two of those fourteen dining chairs are occupied. Now, every part of it is carefully taken care of, every day, two servants stand at the door to make sure no one gets in.
And now that I’ve seen the castle completely, I can proudly say that their house is like the other half of it.
And the man actually enjoyed all of this. Well, his drunk person definitely did, and that was the person I saw every day.
He didn’t act formally, not even on slightly special hours or occasions, it was as if he would never give his drinks up for formality.
Darius’ mental brother didn’t even have to give up his drinks for his wealth, because after all, his family was nearly the biggest and richest one in Russia.
Now that I think about it, I cannot help but imagine what their house in Russia looked like. If his current one is the castle’s second part, that is the castle itself.
But the family is much bigger than the house. I realized, all those portraits in Darius’ house, each resembled one family member of theirs.
Another thing I’d realized was Darius eyeing every single portrait with disgust, exactly how people here eye him. Well, except for that one with his brother.
He smiled every time he walked past it, it was like he cherished his brother more than the whole family.
This whole portrait problem didn’t used to be an important thing for me when I lived with Darius, but now, oh how important it is.
More things about the portraits was that…Every single person on them looked mesmerizing. Part of me believed they were sent here from heaven by looks, but made from hell by person. I mean it. Even the old people looked prettier than usuals. But if I’m honest, especially the two brothers. By looks, they must have been the stars of the family, the ones who were destined to take the family name onward.
I thought so much about them I barely had time to look through my new house.
Not that I had time that day either. Someone knocked on my door, probably a lot fiercer than allowed. I was genuinely surprised the person didn’t break the door down before I arrived to open it.
The sight was…Not exactly what I expected.
Darius’ brother must have known I was trying to understand his person, and he came to my door to drown me in drinks.
The first thing that hit me when I saw him was not his attire. It was the smell he immediately brought into the whole house. And he didn’t even come in yet. Not that he was going to.
-Hello, mademoiselle. I’m sorry for the disturbance, could I steal you for a few quick minutes?
The man was off, and so was his speaking. There was a point in his sentence where he violently started coughing, and then “easing it” with a sip of his drink.
-I’m afraid not. I’m a little busy at the moment–
And he can’t communicate either. Maybe he isn’t the perfect alcoholic man that could bring the family name onward.
-Would this make you want to talk? -he asked, showing me his half empty vodka bottle, trying to bribe me with it.
I was already so shocked I could not answer. I could not answer his insanely drunk questions, it was like they didn’t make sense to me.
He definitely wanted to talk because of Darius, what else?
-Come on, please! I’ll pay for all your week’s vodka if we talk for five minutes. And even if you don’t want to, I kind of understand. All women are terrified of cheating on their husbands once they see me and I tend to be used to it by now.
-Okay, fine, go…-I started, trying to get him out of the house by turning his shoulders to the garden. -Outside, right there.
I took him to a table in the back of the garden.
-I need you to help me with something -he started, making me think he actually wasn’t going to talk about Darius now. -To help me solve something.
The first thing I thought about was in fact not Darius. Hell, I didn’t even think before speaking.
-Oh, really? I don’t even know your name and you want me to help you? That’s extraordinary, don’t you think?
He was absolutely mental. First, he accuses me of having a husband and then cheating on the unexisting man. And then wants me to help him solve something without me knowing his name.
-You’re a difficult one, love -he said, smiling. -My name’s Dimitry Baskakov, newest earl of my family. Okay anyway, back to help.
Not only was he so eager to get me to help him, he was trying to do so by overdoing his russian accent.
His accent was quite likable. If it wouldn’t have been him talking in such an accent, I might have actually cheated on my soon-to-be husband.
-You look like you really need that help. What girl problem do you need to solve?
  -It’s not a girl, but if this works, I will always come to you when I need the women here to get off me. I guess they are insanely obsessed. About the help–
Now, it was me not letting him finish. But I couldn’t help myself, his ego was starting to sound too ridiculous to not laugh.
Though I didn’t say anything hurtful to him, I noticed his servants looking at us from the start of the garden to see us. So that was why. I didn’t want to get tackled.
-Sorry -I said, clearing my throat. -That was quite funny. Again. What problem do you want to solve?
Dimitry took a deep breath before he answered.
-I wish to clear Darius' name and you need to help me, alongside with others.
-And you came to me to do this stupidity? What for?
-You seem like you know a bunch of things about him, I thought you might also know how to clear his name. Besides I don't think you're that lacking in intelligence. You're going to help us.
-Oh, I know what this is about -I gasped, realization finally hitting me. -Darius asked you to lure me into this trap, didn't he?
-Can you please stop asking so many questions? I’m trying to get over this, so I won’t have to pay for two weeks of vodka for you.
-Jesus, I don’t want any vodka, I don’t drink! And I surely can’t help you clear his name either, because it doesn't need clearing. He deserves whatever he's going through right now. I promise, I don’t want to see him at all.
-You don’t want to see him? Do you think he does after you embarrassed him in front of everyone? This is all he needed, like it wasn’t enough for him.
These were actually full drunk words, and I wasn’t planning on listening to them and him.
-Our parents died in a fire. I mean, my biological ones, they adopted Darius after losing one of their sons. If I’m sincere, everyone did. So those portraits are all just memorial ones. I was the one that inherited everything they had. And the rest all happened like Darius didn’t suffer enough.
-Like what? Abusing his girlfriend at fourteen?
It was as it Dimitry’s drunk person was totally gone, and a real person with real feelings replaced it. His gaze turned more serious as he started to get lost in his thoughts.
-On second thought, I don’t need your help. You’ve fallen into the lie too.
He itched his eyes a bit, and he was gone already. He didn’t even look back.
I knew it. I knew he was only here to try to stop people from knowing the truth. He still tries avenging his sick brother, like he isn’t just as sick as him.
They are both devils. Pretty, angel-looking devils. Perhaps the reason they’re so disgusting is because they kicked them out of Hell, they had bigger potential than Satan himself. Monsters. Both are monsters, and it seems like they don’t care.
One is an egoistic and alcoholic monster, the other is a cruel and abusive one. The perfect disgusting duo.