Night of Destiny (Anastasia Tillman)

“Of course! You can bringthose sketches anytime,” Anastasia agreed with a smile.

“Really? Thank you so much, Mrs.. Presgrave!” Lorelai nodded earnestly, then continued, “I'm designing the jewelry for a friend of mine as a gift. With your feedback, I'm sure the gift will be perfect for her!” Anastasia asked curiously, “Did you ever go to design school?” “No, I'm just doing this as a hobby, which is rare for me. | picked it up and | fell in love with it, but | didn't, like, receive professional instruction or anything like that. | guess that’s what sets you andapart, huh?” Lorelai replied modestly.

Laughing, Anastasia said, “Well, I'd rather you keep this up as a hobby. It can be cabng if you turn a hobby into full fledged work.” Lorelai chuckled as well. “Yeah, | guess you have a point.” At that moment, someone at the dining table caught sight of the piano sitting in the corner and started pushing Lorelai to perform a tune. The girl very obligingly walked over to the grand-looking instrument and took her seat, then started playing a song with the sort of quiet grace that lulled everyone into a trance. While the melody carried on, someone said in a low voice, “Lorelai sure is talented. She could be a maestro if she wanted!” ‘I'm sure she'll marry well someday,” another person added..

Upon hearing this, Kendra smiled and said, “That's very sweet of you to say, but Lorelai is just an ordinary girl.” Most of the guests had left three days. after the wedding. After that, Anastasia and Elliot returned to the Presgrave Residence alongside Harriet.

Jared was due to go back to school soon, and Elliot had plenty of work piled up for him at the company. In stark contrast, Anastasia had a lot of free ton her hands, and she had seen the press release about their wedding. However, the exclusivity of the event meant that the media did not have much information to proceed with, and the journalists dared not use it as clickbait either.

Meanwhile, Arthur had stopped living in bars and bought himself a villa close to Elliot's as a temporary dwelling place. Initially, Sophia wanted to go back to visit her parents, but Arthur refused to let her do so. As such, she ended up following him wherever he went.

That day, two world-class etiquette instructors dropped by the villa to specifically teach and guide Sophia on the ways of upper- class societies. Thus, beginning the first steps of molding her into a lady of nobility.

Sophia was admittedly frustrated by this. She wondered why Arthur was splurging on unnecessary things because she thought it would be better for everyone if she remained as carefree as she had always been, unbridled by the stuffy rules of fine society.

Nevertheless, the instructors were dedicated to their jobs, and they carried out the lessons according to a strict plan. Sophia ended up spending two hours each day learning how to stand, walk and sit properly. At the end of each lesson, she was exhausted and found herself questioning her own sanity.

While she was having these lessons, Arthur would be upstairs doing heaven knows-what. Occasionally, fortune tellers would drop by the house, and she wondered if the young master truly believed in such things, or if he was helplessly superstitious because he certainly did not appear to her as such.

Presently, in the living room of the second floor, a medium had apparently thrown a seance to communicate with Arthur's grandfathers spirit in order to pinpoint the location the old man best preferred to be laid to rest.

After sending off the medium, Arthur decided that he would go to the location and scope things out for himself.

Meanwhile, Sophia had just said goodbye to her instructors. She was rubbing her aching shoulder while walking up the stairs when she suddenly heard Arthur calling out to her, “Sophia, please cover here.” She did as she was told and presented herself before him, then asked, “Is there something you need help with, Young Master Weiss?” “A shoulder rub,” he answered curtly as he cast her a sideways glance.

She then stood right behind him and began to rub his shoulders, kneading out the tense muscles as he closed his eyes and disengaged with the rest of the world.

Just as Sophia was admiring his chiseled features, she suddenly felt an alarming tickle in her nose, and before she could stop herself, she sneezed onto his face. “Ah-choo!” She froze after the sneeze. She could not believe that she had sprayed her germs and saliva all over the features she had been admiring just seconds ago.

The air around them grew cold. Arthur's brows furrowed as he said, ‘Wash my face for me.” ‘I am so sorry” she squeaked, running off into the adjoining bathroom and retrieving a moist, patterned towel. She half-knelt on the couch and began to carefully wipe his face. He kept his eyes closed the entire time, and because he had a sharp sense of smell, he could pick up the faint fragrance lingering on her.

His long lashes fluttered as he opened his eyes, and it was then that he saw Sophia wiping his face with a towel.

When she met his gaze, she flushed and said, “I am so sorry for what happened. | promise it won't happen again.” Arthur was speechless as well, but what made him even more incredulous wast the fact that he did not mind the incident at all.