Sitting quietly on the bed, Madeline boringly played with her fingers since she had absolutely nothing to keep her busy for the meantime. She has no plan of using her mind to sway her from the boringness that enveloped the room, knowing exactly what could distract her if she did.
The food on the tray remained untouched as they rested on the side table beside the lamp, and even though Cassian had given her permission to eat without him, Madeline couldn’t bring herself to start eating, knowing that her husband was out there with an empty stomach, and she was more worried for him than she was for herself.
Stealing glances at the clock from time to time, Madeline realized that a whole thirty minutes had gone by, yet Cassian wasn’t back like he said he would. The expression on her face made her look spaced out as she pondered on why the scheming husband of hers was taking so long to return.
She surprised herself by how much she had started to think of him these days. The first time she proposed a marriage to him, she had accepted that they would keep their marriage based on the promises they made regarding why they had to marry, but right now, Madeline was starting to worry that she might end up getting too attached, and even if he assured her he wasn’t going to marry anyone else, Madeline still had her doubts.
"Where is he?" She released a sigh as she fell back on the bed, her hair spreading against the bedsheet in waves. He clearly told her he wasn’t going to take long, so what could be keeping him busy till now?
At that moment, a sudden knock on the door jolted Madeline from her worried thoughts, and without thinking twice about who it could be, she sprang from the bed and went to get the door.
Opening it, her hopes came crashing down when it turned out to not be Cassian, but Frederick instead.
"Did Cassian send you?"Madeline asked immediately after opening the door properly. These were her only thoughts because why else would Frederick be here?
"No." Frederick shook his head, to her dismay. "He didn’t send me here at My Lady, but I’m here to send you to him."
"Send me? I.... don’t understand." Madeline blinked, looking lost.
"The young Lord will be in need of your company, he’s currently sitting outside and refusing to come inside, it gets cold in the night and I am worried for his health."
"Has his guest left?"
"Yes, a while ago, but Lord Cassian doesn’t look happy after the conversation he had with him. I’m concerned so I was hoping you could go meet him and see if he’s alright." This was one of the reasons Frederick wasn’t happy to see Klaus here; somehow whenever he showed up, he ended up leaving Cassian in a somber mood that got him anxious.
"Thank you for telling me this." Madeline said to the butler before going into her room and getting the tray of food. She glanced at the time on the clock and it was past 9pm.
"Having dinner outside doesn’t sound like a bad idea." With a smile on her lips, Madeline exited her room with the tray.
Meanwhile, the young lad was sitting on the comfortable grass at the corner of his mansion, his back leaned against a tree as he continued to take a wisp of his cigar, letting the puff of smoke drift off in the air until it faded completely.
When Madeline approached where he was, she found him smoking under the tree. She remembered when he made mention of how it helps him gain control of himself, and seeing him smoke again didn’t make her happy on the inside.
To make situations worse, he was taking it with an empty stomach which could be even more dangerous to his health.
Taking a deep breath, she approached where he was sitting, and Cassian, due to his ears that had picked up her movements, immediately sat up properly.
"Maddie?"
"How did you know it was me?" She asked, sounding surprised since she never called her name.
"Your scent." He responded with a raised eyebrow, silently wondering how she knew he was here. "What are you doing here?"
"I should be asking you, I was waiting for you and you told me you wouldn’t take time out here." She tried to make him realize he had worried her heart, but the young lad looked even more disturbed as he turned away from her.
"I told you not to wait for me."
"It’s obvious I didn’t listen." She set the tray forward and sat beside him on the grass. "Tonight, we’re gonna have our dinner outside."
"Go back inside."
"Will you come with me?" She sweetly asked and he gave her no response which meant a ’no’ from him. Her eyes drifted to the burning cigar in his grasp, and when she tried to snatch it from his grip, Cassian instinctively moved his hand away like his mind had sensed it before he himself could even realize what was going on.
Astonished by his unforseen movements, Madeline asked. "H...how did you know I was...?" She could barely complete what she had in mind to say, and the young lad was just as clueless.
"My instincts?" He guessed.
"Give it to me."
"No, you’ll burn yourself." Cassan stopped the cigar from burning any further, but didn’t throw it away. Madeline noticed he looked troubled even when he tried to hide it with his cheeky response.
"Is something bothering you?"
"It’s nothing."
"That’s what people say when they’re indeed troubled. What happened? Was it your guest? Did he look for your trouble?"
Cassian was about to tell her to forget it, but hearing her tone that spoke out of pure concern for him, a light bulb unexpectedly lit in his mind, and he nodded his head ike a child who was being petted by his mother.
"What did he say?"
"He called me ruthless." Cassian reported.
"And what did you do?"
"Nothing, he was very mean to me. He called me blind."
"You should have kicked him out instead of standing to hear someone call you blind." Madeline was irritated by it. "You’re not blind, you will see again, and we’ll rub it in his face too since he dared to mock you."
"You’ll do that for me?"
"Yes! No one calls my husband blind, I’ll take revenge for your sake." He could hear she was really annoyed by it, and that brought a smile to Cassian’s lips. He’ll see what happens if Klaus dares to offer flowers to his wife again.
"Don’t be bothered, and let’s eat."
To Madeline’s surprise, the young lad rested his head on her thighs again. "You’re going to have to feed me."
"Tsk! Were you always this demanding as a child?" Madeline frowned as she asked.
"I got punished as a child, my mother never really pampered me, and when I asked, she told me I should get married so my wife can pamper me instead, and that’s what I’m doing. I can’t go against my mother."
He opened his mouth. "Now feed me before I lose my appetite again."
Smiling at his childish behavior, Madeline grabbed a fork and fed a slice into his inviting mouth. "How is it?"
"Cold." He complained.
"And who’s fault is it??"
"Frederick."
Madeline tried not to laugh, but when he heard the escape chuckle that tore from her lips, a slow revealing smile adorned his own lips as well.
As usual, she manages to get him out of the darkness he hated to shield himself in. As long as he had her at his side, the urge to smoke never bothered him.
She fed him and they peacefully had their dinner outside.
"The stars are beautiful tonight."
"Maddie...."
"Oh! Yeah...sorry."
From one of the windows, Elaine quietly watched as Madeline and Cassian spent time together under the grass outside. A satisfying smile curved her lips as she noticed how happy they were together, and when she had enough, she left the window.
"Cassian." Madeline paused when she suddenly remembered something.
"Yes?"
"Why is the other part of the mansion restricted?" She leaned closer and whispered. "Is there a reason why your father abandoned that part?"
Cassian said nothing to her question, and when Madeline felt she had done wrong by bringing it up, she suddenly heard him respond.
"If you’re curious, we can check it out together."