บท 10: Dream or Nightmare 2
Carriage stopped in front of the palace. Evelyn hopped out, still thinking about the brown-eyed man.
"How was the examination, my lady," Earl asked her.
She looked at him blankly. He snapped his fingers and asked her again, "How was the examination?"
Now that Earl asked her about the examination, she realised she forgot completely about how she performed in it.
"Huh? It was good," she replied, smiling nervously.
"That's great,"
She let out a confused smile and said, "I'm going to get some rest."
"Sure my lady," he bowed to her as he saw her uncle approaching in her direction.
"Eve, how was the examination? Ah, no need to ask. It will be best," he said, looking proudly at her with a wide smile as she approached him.
"Uncle, results are yet to come," she informed him being already anxious. Her eye brows lifted a bit and eyes stared in nothingness implying she was tensed about her results.
"Don't worry. I know you will clear it. The real pain is passing the second tier. So prepare well for it," he informed her.
"I won't disappoint you, uncle," she said and went towards her room to take some rest. She fell asleep as soon as she hit her head on the bed.
She heard some voices from a distance which woke her up. She slowly opened her eyes, to see herself in a dark cave. She heard the voice again but this time it was clear.
"You think begging to me will spare her life?" She heard a sinister voice. The voice was harsh and dominating which sent shivers down her spine.
She looked around but there was nothing visible. Everything was dark except for the light coming from the entrance of the cave. She squinted her eyes as she looked out.
"Please spare her life. I beg you. She is still young." She heard a woman pleading. Her heart ached, sensing the pain in her voice.
"You are expecting too much from me," the man replied.
THUD! The sound echoed followed by the agonising cry of a woman.
Evelyn woke up again in fright, sweating. As she touched her face to wipe it, she felt tears on her cheeks. Glancing at the window, she found it was night. She couldn't contemplate what was happening to her.
A knock on her door caught her attention and saw a maid enter.
She bowed to her and said, "His lord is waiting for you at the dinner table, my lady."
"I will come soon," she replied to her. The maid bowed and went out, closing the door behind her.
She got out of her bed and washed her face before joining everyone at the table.
Next day morning, a servant arrived with an envelope at the breakfast table and handed it to Admiral.
"Looks like my niece did great in the examination," he remarked.
Evelyn looked at him in a puzzled manner. He passed the envelope to her. The golden seal on the envelope implied that it was from the council. She opened it to read, excitedly.
A huge grin plastered on her face. She stood up and went to hug her father in excitement. It was a great moment for her as she had cleared her first tier.
"When they have held the second tier?" Renaud asked her.
"After three weeks," she replied, rechecking the letter to confirm it.
"I see. Good," her father smiled gently at her and continued, "Remember the second tier is where everyone fails. Do your best, Eve."
"That's what I said," her uncle said, sipping his black coffee.
"Yes father," she smiled widely at him as she couldn't suppress her happiness.
After a while, she called her father again. "Father, can I now wear the trousers for the second task?" She asked him, inhaling the breath but forgetting to release it.
"As it was already decided, you can wear them," he said in an approving tone.
She released her breath and smiled again, continuing to have her breakfast.
Later that day, she planned to visit the market, accompanying Bele to stitch herself a few pairs of trousers and shirts. For that, she informed a maid to notify Earl to ride her towards the market.
She would have gone with another coachman but later thought, Earl, will help her in describing the dress to the tailor. In the evening she rode towards the market alone with Earl as Bele was called by her granny so she had went to greet her.
Evelyn selected the type of cloth and Earl helped her in describing the clothes, which will suit her.
"Your clothes will be ready as soon as possible and will be directly delivered at the palace, my lady," the tailor said, bowing at her.
"How many days will it take?" She asked.
"Usually it would have taken two to three days but we are lacking in employees. So might take tens of days, my lady,"
"Why so late?" Earl frowned at the tailor.
"Apologies for the inconvenience but we had to expel many employees from the job as we were not in the state to pay them."
"Why would you do that?" Evelyn asked, knitting her brows.
The tailor sighed sadly and said, "People these days prefer to buy readymade clothes as they are instantly available. Therefore no one comes to tailors to stitch."
She looked at the tailor, pitying him and saw Earl nod in understanding. They both got back into the carriage, leaving back to the palace.
Words of the poor tailor built a home in her mind. She wanted to help them but couldn't figure out how to do that. She sat there quietly thinking about it.
"What are you thinking, Eve?" Earl asked her as he felt the ride was extremely silent.
"I was wondering if we could help them," she blurted.
"Did you find it, anyway?" Earl asked as he understood the context she was talking about.
"No, nothing I could think of at the moment," she replied sadly.
"It's alright. Sometimes the solution is right in front of us but for some reason, we are not able to see it. At that time, you close your eyes and think calmly about it. You might find a way," he suggested.
She closed her eyes as he said and concentrated fully to find a way. Soon a wide smile appeared on her face.
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