𝐁𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝; 𝘼𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙮 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙤𝙣

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟗

      "YOU FIVE MUST QUIET DOWN!" Adila couldn't contain her excitement as she softly exclaimed, joining in on the infectious laughter of the young children as they sat in the serene back garden, basking in the gentle glow of the twinkling stars above.

      "Lady Bellerose, would you be willing to share a cringeworthy memory of Aaron's?" Hyacinth giggled, sharing a mischievous look with Inaya and Francesca.

      "A funny memory..." She hummed, tapping at her chin as she thought deeply.

      "This is where I get going." The boy in question huffed, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "I have only been here a day and I cannot escape the pestering of these three."

      "Try living with two of them." Gregory scoffed, shaking his head.

      "Perhaps if you desire a humorous recollection, you should ask the boy himself." Adila said, glancing in between the giggling girls. "However, would you be interested in the most embarrassment I have ever felt in my life?"

      All of the kids nodded excitedly urging her to speak just as Aaron quickly returned to his seat. "Please do, go on." Gregory said with a nod of his head

      "When I was just around Miss Francesca's age, I remember having attended a ball with my parents and older sister in Scotland." She explained. "My parents had urged me to play the piano in front of some guests, and the nerves just made me utterly terrible!"

      "No!" Francesca grimaced, face scrunching up in secondhand embarrassment as all the kids made some sort of exclaim of their own. "How terrible?"

       "So terrible that people had thought someone fell onto the keys." Eyes widening to emphasize her words, she bit down a smile as began to laugh.

      "And let me guess, a handsome boy approached you, taught you how to play and became utterly obsessed with you?" Eloise scoffed as she couldn't help but roll her eyes.

      "You flatter me, Eloise." Adila said, chuckling as she looked up at the girl leaning against the wall. "Actually, I had gotten up to dramatically run away, as one does of course, and had bumped into a server, spilling all the refreshments onto my dress."

      "Oh my goodness." Hyacinth and Gregory mumbled at the same time just as the twins began laughing as they recalled the memory.

       "And as if that was not sufficient enough, on my rush to leave the room, my dress had gotten stuck in the door leaving a huge tear at the bottom."

      "How did you ever come back from that?" Eloise mumbled, hands covering her mouth as she couldn't hide the chuckle escaping her lips.

      "I have refused to ever go to Scotland ever since." Shrugging, Adila quickly caught Inaya and Aaron who had basically fallen into her lap at the rate in which they were laughing, prompting the others to join in.

      "You should have seen her!" The girl in pink sniffled through her laughter. "She was simply barbarous looking." Chuckling along with them, she watched as the kids leaned onto each other as they attempted to imagine the beautiful girl in such a state. Before she could continue any further, two maids quickly approached them.

      "Miss Bellerose, our apologies." They bowed, giving the girl a smile. "We have been ordered to take the kids up to bed."

      "Please go ahead." She smiled back, pushing the twins off of her as they frowned, laughter barely diminishing. "I do not think I can handle one more teasing word anyways."