𝐃𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐄 || 𝐒𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰

Chapter Twenty-Two

Vienne woke up in Sebastian's bed, feeling the most well rested she had these past few days. She slept so hard she didn't know where she was for a brief moment after awaking. She sat up and looked around, her ginger hair quite a mess from all the tossing and turning.

She realized she was in Sebastian's bed and it had been a few hours; she had slept almost all day. Wanting to know where the boys were, she got herself out of bed, padded down the stairs, and walked around until she saw Ominis, Rolf, and Sebastian all sitting at a table in the drawing room.

"Oh, you're awake." Sebastian said, immediately moving over to the next chair so Vienne could sit. "Sleep well?"

Vienne nodded, moving to sit in Sebastian's now-abandoned chair. "Better than I have the past few days, that's for sure." She said, rubbing her eyes. "But I'm up now, so now we can discuss what we're going to do."

"I've already explained everything to them; now it's just a matter of knowing what to do." Rolf piped up. "It feels as if Edward has really thought of everything, even down to how quickly he's making the wedding happen. And he has everyone fooled too. I'm not sure how I didn't notice this earlier—clearly he's been working on this for a while."

Vienne let out a sigh and shook her head. This situation seemed so grim, and it was grim. Her brother's life was at stake, and to be honest, so was she. She didn't know what was going to happen to Elizabeth and the children either. And although she was still upset at her mother, she couldn't deny the feeling of anxiety she had for her, wondering what would happen to her if everything went the way Edward wanted it to.

"It makes me wonder if he's been planning this even before meeting Vienne." Sebastian said, crossing his arms. After all, it was obvious that Claudine and Mrs. Austen had been planning on introducing Edward and Vienne long before it actually happened. They were handpicked for each other.

"I don't doubt it." Rolf sighed. "Before meeting Vienne, Edward mentioned a woman a few times, and now that the pieces are falling together, I'm wondering if that woman was Vienne all along."

Rolf felt guilty for so many things, mostly his association with Edward for so long. It hadn't always been this way, though; they had once been good friends, and Edward had not yet started his secret life that was the exact opposite of his public appearance. But his mere close association, despite that no longer existing, still made him feel guilty.

The others could feel the shift in the mood as Rolf's guilt was evident. "You didn't know; there is no need for guilt." Vienne reminded him gently.

Rolf nodded, but truthfully it would take him a while before the guilt went away, especially if this was unsuccessful. Even he was at risk if this was unsuccessful—all of them were because they would know of Edward's crime.

Something suddenly popped into Rolf's mind, something he had forgotten to tell Vienne. It made the sick feeling in his stomach swell all over again, and they picked up on his distressed facial expression.

"What? What is it?" Vienne asked.

"There's something I forgot to mention." Rolf said, swallowing hard. "Edward is still unsure about how successfully he separated you and Sebastian, and under any usual circumstances, Luis' death would be very suspicious, and the finger would obviously be pointed at him. So, in order to avoid that, he plans on framing Sebastian for Luis' death."

The room went completely silent—that elevated things wildly.

"What?" Vienne exclaimed. "Framing Sebastian? Why?"

"He thinks Sebastian's criminal record will make it easier for him to frame him, which isn't a lie." Rolf replied. "The situation falls perfectly into it. He can defend himself on claims that Sebastian was jealous, and out of jealousy, he killed Luis, who would be the one approving of the marriage between you and Edward. The ministry is a lot more likely to listen to him because he has a seemingly clean record and more than half the town on his side."