The Last Timeline...

0.5 A Sour Taste In A Secret Place

Asher's POV

       As I watched while they lowered her casket down on the ground, I remembered the events that led me to discover her death.

       I arrived at the manor around two or more hours before midnight.

      "Good evening, Young Master. I see you are the first to arrive." The head butler, Alfred, bowed down when I stepped inside.

       "First? What do you mean? That little wench should be here! She left the ballroom first! She should have been here, crying her little heart out and dying inside!"

       "Pardon me, Young Master, but what exactly do you mean?"

       The servants of our household began to gather around us.

      "Stella, where is your mistress? As her personal maid, you should know her whereabouts."

      I glared at her. Worry is slowly building up in the back of my mind. "Once I find that wench, I'll make sure she'll never show her face to me ever again after I'm done with her."

       An uncomfortable silence covered the halls. The wooden pillars soon slowly took the form of ice. The stillness of the servants unnerved me too much. "Are none of you answering me?! Where is she?!"

      Stella broke the silence by pushing me against the wall. All of us were stilled. For the quiet and passive maid to do something like this, something must be wrong. But what?

       Her chocolate eyes soon took on a darker hue. Her unwavering gaze towards me is uncanny. "The moment you last saw her might be the last time you see her alive, Asher." She lowered her head to make her face a little bit darker. Small beads of sweat started to form in my head.

      When she let go of me, the servants looked downcast. Some even had tears in her eyes. All of them averted my gaze while their faces paled.

      "What is... going on?"

       Tears flowing down in my eyes, I fled from the household and walked all the way to the gardens, aimlessly and without direction.

       A distant memory soon resurfaced as I let my subconscious lead me to an old yet familiar place.

       "Brother! Are you okay?! Did Da--Duke Carmichael treat you too harshly?!"

      Tears were flowing down my face when dad reprimanded me for my failure. I tried to avoid her gaze but she only approached further.

       "It's nothing. I'll be fine." Instead of leaving, she grabbed my wrist and dragged me to a secret place.

       Within the woods of our land, we travelled deep into the heart of it. My mind blanked out but my body remembered the way.

       After a few moments of being dragged around, I was greeted by a small quiet garden filled with common flowers.

      "Do you like it? I planted the flowers myself! They're blooming quite splendidly!"

        "The flowers are not to my taste." A lump built up in my throat. For the first time, I felt at ease but a part of me was on edge.

        "Hey! Give this twelve year old a break! I just wanted to cheer you up. You did your best. It may not look nice to others because you failed but... you did a little bit more than the other party. You'll surpass them."

        "Heh. As if! I'll never come to this place again. It's not helping me cheer up at all." The place was too peaceful but it wasn't? It felt complicated as I can somehow feel despair in the midst of tranquility.