CHAPTER 12
THE LAMBS TASTE SWEETEST
The morning noise wakes the princess normally from the little birds chirping, the sound of the squirrels running on the branches or the fruits falling down from the trees, and the sunlight hitting her eyes, but not this princess. Well, I'm not the princess after all. I open my eyes and glare at the big, rigid man with dark hair who has climbed up to my window. He is fixing the lock on the window without realizing that I'm awake, watching him taking his action without asking from the owner, but to be honest, observing him from this point of view is daydreaming.
"Hmpt," and I accidentally chuckle, making him turn to me; he bites his lower lip and shakes his head a little,
"I'm sorry I woke you up," he says. He quickly finishes his thing and approaches me while I'm sitting on the bed with a sleepy face, messy long hair, and a white gown. "Sleep well?" he asks as he pats my head and touches my cheek.
"Not really," I say lightly and shake my head a bit as I rest my head on his palm. "What were you doing with my window?"
"I change the lock." he says, "it's time—I should have done it a long time ago,"
I try not to smirk, "then you couldn't get into my room," I look at him,
"I'm too selfish, I know." Then he chuckles, and his eyes start to fade; he's concerned and worried about something because of that guy who broke into my room—that must be. He stares at my face and shifts down on my bare neck and a bit lower than that and then glides his eyes back to lock on mine. "You're beautiful," he says, and his empty hand grabs my waist, brings me in, then he's about to lean to kiss me,
"I just woke up," I say lightly, about to avoid his lips,
He instantly puts his lips and kisses me desperately like he had never kissed me before, which startles me so much. He pulls his lips, "I don't care." he whispers, pursing his lips as he leans to me closer, against my naked chest through my thin white gown, and he kisses me as I kiss him back. My brain and my heart totally shake hands together; they are connected very well, like they don't fucking care what other careless thoughts are there in my head, just only focusing on pushing my body towards him again and again. I can see that my body also fucking loves his. My body, mind, and heart are aligned perfectly and precisely for the man before me.
"I miss you," I say as he tries to hold my face back to him. He smirks straight at my face, grabs his t-shirt, and is about to pull it off; suddenly, the sound of knocking rises up in front of my door.
I push him immediately,
"Miss Letizia, are you awake?" Della asks,
"Y–yes, what is it?" I ask,
"There's a guest—downstairs, Miss," Della informs behind the door,
I turn to look at Zygmunt, wondering, but I can see he is rolling his eyes.
"It's Mrs. Oskar," Della says,
My heart is frozen, I shift my eyes to Zygmunt as he looks at me and holds my hands tightly, "I'll be there in 10 minutes," I call myself and inform her,
"Alright, Miss," Della says and leaves my room alone.
"Queen herself, take the step, huh?" Zygmunt mumbles
There's a possibility that Tytas has told her, but I doubt that. Tytas mostly takes care of everything on his own. That's why he's the real golden son. They are proud because he handles the shits well before his parent acknowledges it, so his parent's hands are cleaned, also their minds.
"Should I go with you?" Zygmunt asks, teasing me.
"Sure," I say, smiling a little so he feels comfortable and at ease, letting me go to Mrs. Oskar alone.
"I'll be here if you need me," he says, then I nod.
The living room, which nobody has visited for a long time, and here right now, the woman who has the power, wearing green like her son's eyes, her hair full with curls shining brightly, her red lips waiting for me with wondering eyes all over the place.
I take my white dress down on me, and I take my hair half up, half down, leading to the huge sofa that Mrs. Oskar is sitting on. She raises her eyes as she sees me, and then her smile curls up a bit as her manner. I approach her normally with a tiny smile.
"What an honor, Mrs. Oskar. and what a surprise seeing you this early morning," I say,
She chuckles, "I'm the one with honor, visiting you in Serafinne's humble board," She pauses and takes a look around with her eyes as she already did earlier, "How come you run this place so well while your father's gone—so neatly,"
"Thanks to Della, she's the best," I say,
"Is she the maid? The maid can help this much; she probably has a good leader," she compliments me.
"Thank you, Mrs. Oskar," I say,
"I thought we skipped that part—we're close enough to call my first name, Letizia." She says and halts, but I say nothing, only a smile on my face. "Have you seen my son these days?" She asks, and I shake my head instead of answering, "Me too, I have no idea what he has been doing the past few days—after," she pauses and gazes at me, "I've never seen him so—miserable like this before, to be frankly to you, he hasn't eaten, or come down to dinner, and I haven't seen him all day. I thought he wanted to keep himself in the room, but when I tried to see him, he's gone," she exposes his beloved son's behavior after I broke his son's heart.
"He's gone?" I ask,
"And school tomorrow, I don't know that he will go or not—not to speak his own home," she sighs so loud then looks at me,
"I bet you tried calling him?" I say as I also ask,
She shakes her head, "He doesn't pick up my calls, or his father." and then she sighs again, turns to look at me with those eyes of the innocent,
Please, don't tell me—I can't call him after that.
"Can you please do me a favor?" she begs, her eyebrows rising. You're the only one; Tytas only listens to you."
I doubt that.
She moves her ass on the edge of the sofa, reaches out for my hands, and holds mine so tightly, "It's true, Letizia, he might be a good child, but he barely listens to me," she explains, "Tytas—loves you so much, his eyes have always been you,"
I sigh my heart out inside my chest. I feel guilty, of course, but I feel like she tries so hard to let me acknowledge his sentiment or her own point of view.
I sense she confess herself to me.
"And we have an event this weekend, and it's pretty big for us. For Jake, his project's finally been established, so it's a pretty big deal for him and all of us. I don't want Tytas to miss his own father's accomplishment and to me," she pauses and looks even deeper inside my pupils, "I want you to come," she says,
"Mr. Oskar must be thrilled," I say,
She smiles and returns to her position, watching me as her mind runs about something so loud. "You remind me of her. She has nothing to say much, but when she speaks—it lights up," she curls her lips, "in a positive way and even harsh truth—she's a very honest person—was." she corrects, "but she's never honest to her own feelings,"
I stare at her, "You seem to know her very well,"
She smiles and gazes at me, "More than anyone else here, empty. It might sound arrogant, but I think I know her as much as your father," she says, "even more." she murmurs, her facial expression changes time to time. I notice she can't hold her smile for too long, "You sit beautifully, quietly, like a classic portrait, just like her." Her smile is fader and fader, "She used her voice when she needed it; sometimes, I wish she had expressed herself more—talked more."
I watch her admiring my mother or pity her.
"She had a lot of admirers—and she didn't even realize herself," She stops and stares at me with a smile again, crazy to see her change her reaction back and forth. "and it seems like you—don't know that yourself,"
I look at her stunningly,
"I see one thing that is different from you guys—you might be quiet, but you speak, you take action, you follow what you believe—not her," she closes her mouth.
I take a deep breath, "You just miss her," I say,
She looks at me, "Yes, I know you also—miss her,"
"Yes, I'm glad that someone speaks of her without being too mindful or afraid to hurt my feelings," I say. It's nice." I look into her green eyes.
"You remind me of her very much, Letizia." She smiles again, "So I hope you will do me a favor. I like you, sweetest girl; you're the only girl—that I approve of," My eyes wide open, I try not to show any reaction. "I know that Tytas loves you; he devotes to you with all his heart, dear."
Then she propers herself and gets off the sofa; I get up and realize that I might be able to breathe again.
"I'll be going," she is about to leave and turns herself before her foot is out of my door, "you're smart, so don't make any wrong choice," she says and gives her a goodbye smile.
I say nothing and watch her leave.
The stance of her visit concerns Della, who is back at the house after sending the unexpected visitor off; she shuts the door and walks to me slowly, touching my arm lightly. I turn to look at her and tell her not to come to my room today. She nods willingly.
I sigh lightly but too long as I get upstairs, seeing the big tough man leaning against the wall on the step of the stairs, looking at me with no expression.
Zygmunt, he must eavesdropping.
I look at him as much as possible, trying to read his mind. Is he mad? Frustrated?
But all I know is that I feel terrible guilt for choosing my heart for the first time. I would feel nothing if it was a typical daily life decision I had nothing to care about. But no, this is Tytas. I did love him. I do, but not that hauntingly deep like the dark North Sea that I have always fallen to the man before me.
He offers his hand to support my body up the stairs and takes me to my room.
I sit down on the sofa next to the window as he pulls the soft blanket from the bed, and then he covers himself over me with it.
"You owe him nothing, especially her," he says,
But I think I do. Emily, she must miss my mother so much. She couldn't stop talking about her, she always turned back to mention my mother. Back then, they were very close. My mother often took me to Oskar's place. They would rest on the sunbed on the side of the pool, sunbathing and chitchatting about something I never knew because I always paid attention to playing with Tytas and exploring their castle. Eventually, my mother stopped visiting them and spent more time with Merides instead. I wondered what the reason was. It must be something between the lines; something must have happened between my mother and Tytas' mother.
While I am in my head, thinking quietly, Zygmunt squeezes me so tight as to call me back and remind me not to get lost in my own mind.
"You're not the one who owes them," he says,
"Why did you say that?"
"Because," he says, putting his face over my shoulder, "the relationship between your mum and her was between them. You can not fix it—or they cannot pour it on you," he says, then raises my hands to hold his arms.
"Zygmunt," I call him lightly,
"Yes,"
"I think there's something more than—what we see," I say,
"Or what we are forced to see—sometimes we show only what we want others to see," then he kisses my neck, "but remember, my zia, my baby doll…"
"Hehe," I ticklish,
"The root will show eventually," I smile a little and give him a little nod. I feel his breath held inside his chest, and then I stop curling my lips. "There's something you need to know," he said, "I found the owner of the knife,"
"In person?" I ask softly, waiting.
He shakes his head beside my cheek, "Can you look at me?" He asks. Then, I slowly turn around and face him while he holds my waist and gazes at me. Why does he have trouble to tell me? "He works for Wellington," he says,
Wellington? As Welton Wellington? The guy I—killed?
"Hey," he says in the softest voice possible, rubbing my cheeks, "if you want me to stop, I'll stop." I breathe in and shake my head, "His name is Valcom Mitcher, and I assume…" he pauses, looks at me with these eyes of nervousness, a bit of fear. "he was the same person who,"
"Shot my mother?" I say, he nods,
"It's just—a prediction,"
"Why do you assume in that way, then?" I ask. He's struggling to say it again. "Because of…I killed Winston, and that guy took revenge by killing my mother." I say his prediction or mine.
"Baby, baby," he holds my face gently, "no, not a Wellington member who can access his own men. There are two more powerful families in this town—" I gasp and my eyes wide open, "...who has the power and has any access to anything," he says as he looks at me, "more than Wellington—"
I know who they are,
"Vanderbilt, and," he says and holds his tongue,
"Oskar," I say,
That's fucked up,
Now, I'm the one who is struggling; my chest is filled up with something that I can't tell. I feel like I want to throw up.
"Please tell me what you are feeling right now?" he asks, worried about me. He holds me in, trying to look me in the eyes and tell me that he's with me. "Zia,"
"I need to know why my mother ended their friendship with her—Emily Oskar," I say as I lose my breath.
He grabs both my hands, kissing them and trying to calm me. "What do you need, by baby doll?" he asks.
He grabs both my hands, kissing them and trying to calm me. "What do you need, by baby doll?" he asks.
"I need to talk with Merides," I say,