1.11

The weeks quickly passed by and the wedding went from 28 days to only 3 days away.

"Today's the rehearsal for the reception, dear. Aren't you excited?" Reginald asks as he and his fiancee walk down the corridor to the dining hall.

Liliana smiles softly. "I am. Have all the guests arrived?"

"Yes, the castle hasn't been this crowded since my parents' wedding," Reginald answers as a small tinge of sadness appears on his face. Liliana reaches down and squeezes his hand, attempting to comfort him. He stops in his tracks and looks at Liliana.

"I know you miss your father...I'm sorry he can't be here to see how amazing you are, "Liliana softly says. He looks towards her and shakes his head. "Don't worry, dear, I'm fine. In fact, I'm better than ever, now that you're here with me," he smiles, tilting his head to the side to look at his lovely lady. "Thank you for everything, dear."

It seems like he's just putting on a strong front, but I won't say anything about it.

"Oh, I nearly forgot," he laughs happily. "I have a small surprise for you."

"Hm?"

He opens up the door to the dining hall, allowing golden light to fall upon the duo. Dukes and duchesses roamed the hall. Liliana's eyes, however, were on something completely different.

"Amelia? Mrs. Florentine?"

No! This isn't right! They shouldn't be here at all!

Amelia and Mrs. Florentine rise from their table by the door and deeply curtsy towards their future King and Queen

"My lady," Amelia smiles, raising her head. "His Majesty was kind enough to invite both of us to attend."

Amelia's normal grey eyes were ringed with purple circles from sleeplessness. Her brown hair pulled tightly into a bun, slicked back with grease.

Amelia had changed for the worse. Something awful must've happened...

Liliana glances at Mrs. Florentine and notices that the old woman still has a wide smile on her face; yet, she appeared just as tired as Amelia.

Wasn't she upset that her own daughter wasn't the one marrying Reginald?

Liliana now looks at Reginald, but he remains smiling.

"I knew that Amelia was your favorite maid so she had to come, obviously. And, since Mrs. Florentine is her mother and Amelia needs a chaperone, she came as well," Reginald informs.

"Thank you for having them," Liliana smiles at Reginald. "This is a wonderful surprise."

Reginald grabs Liliana's hand and squeezes it lightly. "I'd do anything for you, and this just seemed...right. I'm glad you enjoyed this surprise."

An unneeded surprise, too! I don't want them here!

He nods then turns towards the two commoners. "I'm going to greet the others at the head table, so please, pardon me." Reginald glances at Liliana. "Come over when you're done, alright?"

Liliana nods in agreement and he kisses her lightly on the cheek. Liliana smiles softly and watches as he walks away, the smile soon falling.

The only reason he hasn't full-on kissed her in public is the PDA rules in this society, but he hasn't refrained from deeply kissing Liliana in their private dining sessions. Liliana couldn't lie and say that's he's a bad kisser, but there was no connection there, especially with the plans conceived with the enemy looming overhead.

And, his obsessiveness was just a bit off-putting.

"It's good to see you again, Mrs. Florentine, I'm glad you came," Liliana thanks the older woman and Mrs. Florentine nods.

"I'm quite excited t'be here. I've never been to th'palace before!" she beams, although it seems slightly strained.

"Is...is everything quite alright, Mrs. Florentine?" Liliana asks, concern coming onto her face as she steps closer to the older woman.

The Florentines exchange glances.

"Well...on the good side, we were able to bring back the house to a complete state of repair. Reginald was kind enough to send over some money to help with repairs," Amelia awkwardly informs and Mrs. Florentine frowns. "On th'worse...Katherine hasn't been home for a while now, 'nd hasn't written for a couple o' weeks."

Liliana frowns at this. Did Katherine possibly run away if she was rejected? Or maybe Reginald is still visiting her as a mistress and Katherine just needs to stay on the down-low with the wedding coming up. "I'm sure she's alright...maybe she's busy at the clinic?" Liliana suggests.

"Possibly..." Mrs. Florentine trails off. "But if not, we'll file a missin' persons report wit' th' Church. They seem t'find them more of'fen than th'military does."

"But we hope that's not the case," Amelia says, comforting her mother, "we plan on visiting the clinic on the way back. Then, if you'll still have me, I'll come back and work as a maid here."

Liliana's eyes widen in surprise, "You'd-" Liliana coughs, noticing her voice had risen a pitch, "you'd still wish to work for me?" Liliana asks and Amelia's brows furrow. "Of course, do you think I'd forget all about you in a month's passing?" Liliana smiles lightly as an overwhelming feeling swelled from inside her gut.

This is...guilt.

"I'd be happy to have you as my Head Maid."

What was I supposed to do with Amelia after the plan was enacted? Would she even want to be a part of this whole mess? What happens if  I was to fail, would Amelia be executed?

Excusing herself, Liliana went up to Reginald and then practiced the reception and afterward the waiters brought out dinner and the hall ate. The group had already practiced the wedding a few days back with just the necessary people and it went well enough. From here on out, it should be easy until the wedding day.

After dinner, everyone retired, and Reginald escorted Liliana back to her quarters for the night.

"Dear..." he says, "I have just one more surprise for you. It took a bit of planning, but I organized it and wished for you to see it while it's still fresh."

"You didn't have to," Liliana teasingly replies and he smiles shyly. "Care to accompany me to my room for a moment? Nothing shall happen before our wedding night, do not fear."

Liliana nods and he guides her by the hand to the room next door. He held her hand delicately as if he was afraid it'd break in his grasp.

"Men, we'd like total privacy," Reginald demands and the guards nod knowingly. The guard on the left opens the door and the couple steps inside.

"This will be your room soon, so please, be comfortable," Reginald informs as he closes the door behind him. Liliana enters the gilded room, sitting lightly on the edge of his bed.

"It's quite a lavish room..." she breathes out, looking at how gloriously detailed everything was. He chuckles, "Only the best for my Queen and I. Now...close your eyes, while I set everything up."

"Umm...alright." Liliana nervously laughs and closes her eyes.

"No peaking~!" Reginald teases, stepping away.

"I won't," Liliana responds as she places her hands over her face.

'Any guesses to what he's preparing?'  008 asks, and Liliana internally shrugs in response.

'No idea, he's possibly bringing me a bouquet of roses.'

'He definitely has been adding roses all over the palace recently...' 008 comments.

'The whole place reeks of them.'  Liliana distaste of the roses has grown as of recent.

Who would've figured?

'It's probably a...handful for you to deal with...'

'008, someone actually died.'

'Oh, yes...'

"I'll guide you to the gift," Reginald informs as he grabs a hold of Liliana's narrow shoulders. Liliana stands up from the bed and her fiancee walks her in a straight line before finally stopping.

"Open your eyes!" Reginald demands cheerily. Liliana moves her hands away and slowly opens her eyes.

On the table sat 2 platters, golden domes gleaming over its hidden content.

"Did you make me dessert? I'm quite full from the reception dinner already," Liliana jokes. He shakes his head, a grin twitching onto his face.

"No, my dear, for this present is far sweeter."

She turns back to the domes. Their gold shines freely, freshly polished under the yellow light of the candle nearby.

"This is my repentance to you, my dear," he breathes on the back of her neck, his hands remaining clenched on her shoulder. An unintentional shiver runs down Liliana's spine and the hairs stick up on the back of her neck. Sweetly, he runs his right hand down Liliana's right arm then gently grabs a hold of her right wrist. While the hold seemed delicate, it was tight and constricting.

"Which one shall we start with...? Left, or right?" Reginald hums as he moves her hand between the two domes like a claw machine. Liliana remains silent, not knowing what to say.

"Pick." Reginald's voice had lost all of the soft edgings he previously had.

"Oh! Uhm..." Liliana's eyes land on the first platter. "How about the left dome?"

"Of course, my dear." His tone was sweet once again. He guides her hand to the left then hesitantly lets go. He steps aside and fixates his gaze at her face, eager to view her reaction.

"Open it up."

She looks back at him suspiciously before glancing at the platter. Her fingers skim over the dome's top lightly before they wrap around its handle and removing the top.

"Oh my!"

Liliana looks down at a gorgeous ring on the platter. Its icy blue diamond shimmered in thousands of precise angles and cuts and was surrounded by many more tiny clear diamonds. "It's...it's so beautiful..."

"It's been in my family for the past two centuries, given to the Crown Prince and their bride..." he explains as he looks at it with a faint smile. "My mother gave it to me last month, and I wanted to show it to you before the ceremony. What a shame she had to go eastward..."

Liliana resisted the urge to run away in fear. Last month, you said she went south to her cottage!

"Thank you," she smiles, hoping to not sound awkward. She clears her throat, eyes peeling away from the sparkling diamonds. Reginald nods and takes the dome back up in slender fingers. With precision, he sets the dome back on top of the platter with a slight clink, before he glances at the remaining platter.

"Now, for your final gift," he giddily grins. "This is my...my most personal gift yet by far, and my favorite. I'm glad you saved the best for last."

"I can't imagine how you can outdo the gifts you've already given me," she laughs lightly and he laughs louder. "I'll always outdo myself in your name, my dear. Now...open it."

Liliana turns to the final platter. With dainty fingers, she reaches forward towards the top and pulls it off, her features distort in horror as a scream lets loose from her lips. The dome clatters to the ground at her feet, the sound of metal clattering ringing in Liliana's ears.

Liliana's trembling hands cover her mouth in shock, her face ghostly pale.

Golden hair shone even brighter on the gold platter, contrasting sharply with the drying red that crusted under her chin. A girl's crystalline eyes were unshut, gazing forever forward in a petrifying light blue.

The head was fresh.

Liliana quickly backed away, bumping into a hard chest. Liliana yelps, hands moving around in a panic. Suddenly, a hand clamps down on Liliana's mouth. She quickly bites down hard and hears a gasp from behind her.

The hand moves away from her mouth and Liliana swivels her head back. Horrified, Liliana sees a look of ecstasy on Reginald's face as she felt something begin to press against her back.

"Shhh," Reginald hushes as he rewraps his arms around her torso, pulling Liliana's back to his chest. His left hand remains on her body while his right hand moves up to her forehead, forcing her to face forward. It wasn't comforting, it was to prevent Liliana from running away and purposely look at the sight before her. "No need to be frightened, dear."

"W-Why is t-there a head-"Liliana stutters as he strokes the girl's black hair lightly. He rests his chin on her shoulder while Liliana's gaze is transfixed on the poor girl's face.

The look of fear seemed to still be etched into the poor woman's muscles, leaving Liliana to wonder how painful the blonde's death was...

"I recall a long time ago that you said you were upset with my ways," Reginald says, moving his head up from Liliana's shoulder. "Words were not enough to show that I'm deeply sorry..." Reginald puts his hand on Liliana's chin, pulling it up to force her to look at him. Liliana winces at the sudden muscle strain, but when she saw how frenzied Reginald's blue eyes appeared her eyes widened in shock.

"I love you so, so, so much, Liliana. I'd do anything and everything for you, and this shows that nothing will ever come in between us, ever."

Liliana felt her breath caught in her throat, still unable to process what was happening. A small grin comes onto his face, "And if you were to ever court about other men, I'd expect a similar gift from you. Do you understand?"

Liliana nods dumbly and he smiles widely.

"Good."

Reginald releases her chin, allowing her to put her head back into a normal position. Reginald's eyes flutter for a moment as he takes a deep inhale of Liliana's scent. "God, you smell delicious," he moans, standing fully erect now and kissing her neck deeply, his eyes closing.

Liliana just stands there, petrified eyes transfixed on the head of the heroine, Katherine Florentine.

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Next Tuesday is the wedding. Are you ready?