Saving The Villainous Monster From The Male Lead-Chapter 74 - 73: The Green House

Eleanore wakes up the next day with a new memory of her mother. They were playing house in her playroom, with dolls that resembled their family. Her mother, father, her brother and herself were not the only ones in that house. It also contained a few of her close maids.

Little Eleanore played with that dollhouse, along with her mother, who could barely find any time for her children. Yet always tried hard to not miss her bonding time with her children.

Just as her imagination was turning wild and she was about to turn herself into a superhuman, her father entered her playroom.

He lovingly picked up his little princess and raised her high in the sky helping her fly in the air, under his supportive hands. It was a very heartfelt moment and Eleanore could feel her heart throbbing in pain from those vivid memories.

Marina opened up the curtains of the room, letting in the sun rays. She had returned to work and today was supposed to be her first day until Eleanore forfeited it.

"Marina, you must go back to your room." Eleanore ordered as she got out of her warm sheets. "You need rest." she adds.

"My lady—" Marina tries to retaliate but her mistress’ mere stern stare, makes her feel defeated. She sulked hard, as she left the room. Back to sleeping or rather lying like dead, in her dull quarters that somehow started to feel like prison now.

The rest of the day was the same as the past two days. She immediately rushed to Stella’s room, to inspect if the nurses were doing their job well and then after her lunch, spent the whole afternoon there, reading a random book she had picked from the library of the Lancaster Mansion.

When evening fell, she realised she had sat in one place for much too long than she actually should have. She was feeling drowsy now and she couldn’t bear to sleep, just to be welcomed with a new memory that might make her heart ache again.

Eleanore set out on a walk. Unknowingly she entered the rose guard, from where two paths opened for her. The secret garden and the greenhouse, built for the duchess by the duke, to make her feel home.

’Wouldn’t it be better to find a little more about my past?’

One thing Eleanore had understood by now was, if a core memory is awakened then the remaining memories come flooding in, one by one, at a certain interval. The amount of memories coming back to her are somewhat precisely measured. It is never too much nor too little.

Her feet started to move forward to the greenhouse. Like her mother, she wanted to know more about her godmother too. How was she? How did they meet? How did she die? She wanted to know it all.

Unlike other times, when she entered the green house today, a wave of warmness flew past her. As if someone was welcoming her with open arms and ready to give her a heartfelt hug. It is so strange, why does she feel like this today? What is the difference between her today and her a month ago?

Is it because she is more of the original Eleanore than she was a month ago? Was she just a foreign shell, having no memories, emotions and even soul of the original one? She didn’t like the fact that with time she was turning into the original owner of this body, but then again, she didn’t find it half bad.

Eleanore stood in front of the double-coloured bushes of roses. Waiting for a memory or anything to surge in. But nothing came. Her head was neither in pain nor was it dizzy. It was a failure. ’Where might the core memory be?’ She wondered.

She continued to stand there for a few more minutes in disappointment, before turning around, only to be jolted back by Caelestis’ sudden appearance.

Caelestis had entered the green house, seconds after Eleanore had. When he saw her looking at those strange bushes, whose meaning he was unaware of, he wondered.

’What is she looking at so seriously?’

He saw her expressions change at every second. At first, she was contemplating for a while, then started searching for something, disappointed, perhaps because she was unable to find whatever she was looking for and then blankly staring at those beautiful red and white flowers for another fraction of minutes.

"What were you searching for in that bush?" He asked. His eyes were again looking at the flowers thinking what is it, that’s so great about them.

"Memories." She answers, as she starts walking away from them.

"Memories?" He followed her as confusion clouded over him.

"Yes, my lost memories. That’s what I am looking for." She was making her way back out of the green house, when Caelestis pulled off a strange gesture.

"Would you like to— um... — enjoy some tea with me?" He asked.

Eleanore turned to the man, following closely behind her. This man that would find ways to stay away from her had just invited her for a tea, out of nowhere.

Caelestis was smiling and it looked rather genuine. She had no reason to refuse, so she simply nodded, accepting his invitation.

They sat on a delicate table that was already present in the middle of the green house. They say it was a hang out spot of the loving couple, the duke and duchess.

The white ceramic table looked amazing from far but divine from up close. There was something so magical about it that her eyes just simply lightened up at its sight.

The chair they sat in was not very comfortable. It had no cushions, and the back to lean on was made of thin black iron.

When the fragrant tea was served, the servants left the greenhouse, on Caelestis’ order. Eleanore asked the question she was holding in for long. "Why are you here?" She asked.

Caelestis smiled at that and took a sip of his tea. His gaze wandered around the greenhouse, not looking for words to tell a lie, but finding a good way to frame the truth.

"How should I explain? I can’t find words." He says exactly what she was wondering.

Eleanore understood that it might be hard for him to explain but she still wanted to know. She sat quietly in her place and didn’t move, gesturing that he could take his time and she would wait for as long as he wanted.

When he saw determination and that hint of stubbornness in her eyes, he felt embarrassed. He leaned forward, over the table and ran his fingers through his silky black hair, followed by a little chuckle.

Eleanore’s eyes widened at that scene, something was strange and different about it. He looked so charming when he did that, that her heart fluttered a little.

’What is this?’ She wondered.

She had started noticing his actions and movements. She realized he had a great side profile and her eyes— were they always this sharp? What about his jawline? She knew they were nice and piercing but since when did they start to look so attractive?

Caelestis leaned back as he prepared himself to answer the question, knowing there was no way to evade it. "There is something strange about this place. It feels like home here. As if my mother is always waiting for me, to shower a warm hug whenever I come to her."

It was a pretty good answer. He couldn’t make it sound any better.

But—

But that was not what was going on in Eleanore’s mind. After everything he had said, she could only notice one thing, why does his usual harsh voice sound like melody today?

That was all her imagination. His voice was still the same, rough and hoarse, yet somewhat calm and sweet.

Eleanore cleared her throat as she tried to continue this conversation. "You are right. There is truly something so loving about the environment here. It is filled with the warmth of the grand duchess." She says. "But how unfortunate is that. Although I can feel her warmth, I remember nothing about her." Her tone held a hint of sadness.

To distract herself from this itching pain in her heart, she quickly took a huge sip of hot tea, burning her tongue in the process. She slammed the teacup back on its saucer and covered her mouth with her palm to somehow gulp in the hot tea in her mouth.

Caelestis quickly poured a cold glass of water for her and passed the glass to her.

"Thanku." She says messing up a few letters due to her burned tongue.

Eleanore wanted this conversation to go on longer, but her dumb move had ended it instead. Her tongue couldn’t take anymore of that hot tea, so she simply leaned back and started observing the greenery of this place. Silence had loomed over the two, for as long as they could remember, until it was broken.