THE Summer Solstice Festival would begin that night.
At the crack of dawn, Pamela set about her role as maid and thrust open the bed canopy.
“Duchess Sonia, please get up,” she said. But she was shocked to see Sonia sluggishly pull her body up. The rings under her friend’s eyes were horridly dark. “Duchess Sonia, by any chance, were you unable to sleep last night?”
Sonia bobbed her head, her expression dark. Her eyes looked moist as if they were going to start raining giant teardrops at any second. It probably had to do with whatever Prince Henry told her about Sir Chris yesterday.
“...Sonia,” Pamela soothed, dropping her mask as a maid and returning to Sonia’s best friend. She sat down on the bed close to Sonia. “Are you going to give up and just be his good friend? And choose one of the slew of suitors who popped up the moment you broke the curse? Those men who see your wealth first and you second?”
Sonia weakly shook her head and replied, “...But Sir Chris’ heart already belongs to someone else...so I don’t have the courage to tell him how I feel. I never should have asked him to escort me tonight...”
Tears rolled down Sonia’s cheeks. Pamela brushed them away with her pure white apron, gently and kindly. “Sonia, didn’t you come to tell him regardless of whether he returned your feelings or not? Or have you forgotten that?”
“I haven’t forgotten, but somewhere, a part of me was confident it would go smoothly—that he’d return my feelings. I’m sure of it.” Otherwise, she wouldn’t be so afraid of telling him.
“Then are you going to give up on telling him after all?”
“......”
If I do, what will I do? I’ll simply spend the night enjoying the Summer Solstice Festival with Sir Chris. Even if it isn’t a sweet night of romance, I can savor the happy time we spend together.
But when the night draws to an end, so will that happiness. I will have to treasure this special night as I choose another man to be my husband and Sir Chris dedicates his life to another... I can deal with that, but my heart still aches. It feels like someone is pushing down on my chest.
Pamela gently placed her hands over Sonia’s tightly balled fists. “Sonia, you know, I’m jealous of you. I mean, you’ve found someone you love so much that it hurts.”
“Pamela...” Sonia said and looked up at Pamela. Her friend was smiling gently as always.
“When you’re of noble birth, don’t your parents usually decide who you marry? Everyone goes along with the decision and falls in love after marriage... We do it in the reverse order of the masses, don’t we? That’s why I think when we wed, we harbor the fear ‘can we love each other’? After all, most of us ladies have never had a brush with love before getting married. But you’ve learned how it feels to fall in love and care for a man.”
“...Pamela.”
Pamela tightened the grip of her hands over Sonia’s.
“Are you sure you don’t want to let him know? After all he’s made you feel...are you really okay with not telling him?” Pamela asked, her words driving into Sonia’s chest.
She was right. Sonia wanted Chris to know how she felt. That alone was enough.
“I...have been so very blessed... I want to tell Sir Chris I care for him. That was the whole reason why I came here...but then I got cold feet,” Sonia admitted. She smiled at Pamela as she wiped away her tears. “Thank you, Pamela! I’ll do my best! I’ll tell him how I feel, regardless of how it turns out!”
“Sonia...!”
The two women hugged each other and laughed.
“Well, now that you’ve decided what to do, you should get some more shut-eye. You look atrocious after that bad night of sleep.”
“Do I really look that bad?” Sonia asked, reaching for her hand mirror.
“I wouldn’t if I were you. You’ll never get over it,” Pamela teased and stuck out her tongue.
“Really!”
After another fit of laughter, Pamela left saying she would make some chamomile tea to help Sonia get some more sleep.
“Thank you,” Sonia mumbled as she watched her best friend leave from her perch on the bed.