Lord William Kensington was grinning ear to ear on the way back, holding the bag of cookies as if that was his most prized possession. Duke Kensington shook his head looking at his son, who looked so foolish with that silly smile on his face.
"Do you like her that much? You've been smiling from the moment we left." Duke Kensington asked his son. "Yes! She baked the most delicious cookies. And she added extra chocolate chips, just for me! Will she come and live with us soon, Father?" Lord William enquired excitedly. He wished Lady Melissa could come back with him today itself but she's not married to his father yet. Thinking of how slow his father is, Lord William couldn't help but pout his lips. 'What a man, he can't even make her come and live with them sooner!' Looking at his son suddenly looking at him while pouting, Duke Kensington felt helpless. 'This boy is thinking of something for sure.' He had been hogging Lady Melissa all to himself during the time they were at the Knights' mansion. Duke Kensington didn't even have a chance to get a word in as they chatted non-stop while ignoring him. Lady Melissa also didn't spare him any glance and was focusing solely on William. However, when they were leaving, she was gracious enough to offer him a smile. The word gracious was aptly used as the whole time, her smiles seemed to be reserved only for William and no one else. When she looked at others, she appeared calm with no tinge of emotion on her face. "She will come and live with us after the wedding ceremony. We need to follow the proper procedures and let Queen Grandma handle it. Since you like her so much, you need to tell Queen Grandma that. She would be happy to know that since she picked Lady Melissa for you." Duke Kensington told his son. "Hmmph! Father, you're so slow! Lady Melissa is so beautiful. If you don't bring her home now, someone else will marry her! If that happens, I would never forgive you." Lord William pouted more while scolding his father. Duke Kensington's lips twitched when he heard this. This son of his was getting more and more bolder as he grew older. He sighed and answered, "It's not up to me, Son. If you want Lady Melissa to live with us sooner, you'd have to speak to Queen Grandma about it." Lord William's eyes widened at this. 'Yes, that's right! I can ask Queen Grandma to let Father marry Lady Melissa sooner. Why didn't I think of this?' At the thought of this, Lord William grinned mischievously. "Father, I wish to see Queen Grandma tomorrow. Please bring me to her." The young boy commanded his father seriously. Duke Kensington could only sighed loudly and nodded his head at his son's request. One thing for sure, bringing his son to meet Lady Melissa today had certainly backfired. Instead of annoying her with this small fireball, they ended up becoming chummy with each other and he was now sidelined. Thinking of the days ahead especially after the wedding made his head ache more. "Mel, did you say yes to Duke Kensington's proposal today?" Lord Melvin asked with a curious gaze at his beloved sister. As far as he knew, Melissa hadn't met Duke Kensington before and judging from her proud nature, she would at least made things difficult for him before accepting this marriage. "Actually I said yes to Lord William, his young son. So technically I didn't say yes to him, at least not yet." Lady Melissa grinned while answering. "What's that supposed to mean? Didn't it mean the same thing? You agreed to the marriage." Lord Melvin was puzzled at her answer. "Well, the boy asked me to become his mother. I said yes to that. A mother and a wife are two different things." Lady Melissa explained. Lord Melvin blushed when he finally understood what his sister meant by that. At the thought of it, he couldn't help but felt pity towards his sister. How could a person live with their spouse without having a proper husband and wife's relationship? Isn't that the main fundamental of a marriage? If her sister is only willing to marry to become someone's stepmother but not someone's wife, what kind of life would that be? Looking at her worried brother, Lady Melissa felt a pang of regret. She shouldn't have teased him like this. Eventhough he's not her real brother, after spending much time with Lord Melvin, Melissa realized that this man really adored his younger sister and often worried about her well-being. Thus she herself had developed some fondness for this 'fake' brother of hers. "Brother, don't worry too much about it. As you already knew, I don't really care about love. Love only brings disaster and endless troubles. But I genuinely like that boy and we get along well too. He is bright, cheerful and smart. I'm sure Duke Kensington only agrees to marry me because of his son anyway, so that works out well for everyone, don't you think so?" Lady Melissa smiled when she thought of young William. "But what if one day you fall in love with someone else, won't that be too late then?" Lord Melvin enquired further. He's concerned that when the time comes, Melissa would only feel regret and bitterness towards the marriage. Then she would forever be trapped in a loveless marriage with that cold hearted guy! "You're thinking too much, Brother. I've seen and met those so called aristocrats and noblemen. Do you think they're worthy of my love? You know how I am, I'm afraid no one could withstand my sharp tongue. Since it's just a marriage solely for the benefit of the child, I'm sure Duke Kensington would not bother me much if I take care of William well. I plan to live a long and happy life with William. I don't need to care about anyone else. If I need anything, I'd come to you or Father." Lady Melissa said with a smile, hoping her words would console Lord Melvin.Lord Melvin sighed when he heard this. He really hoped his sister could live a long and happy life after she's married. Unlike his sister, Lord Melvin knew Zachary Kensington well. That man's heart is made of stone!Even the deceased Lady Delia had a hard time adjusting to Kensington Estate after her marriage. This was open secret to the upper class society. Lord Melvin was close to Lady Delia's brother, Lord Desmond and thus he often heard Lord Desmond complained to him about how unfeeling and cold Duke Kensington was towards his sister.According to Lord Desmond, Duke Kensington rarely spent time with his wife, and was often busy with his businesses. Since Lady Delia was meek by nature, she found it hard to command the respect of the servants and staffs and in the end she was overrun by the Duke's cousin, Lady Sophia. Who in the society didn't know that Lady Sophia harboured feelings towards Duke Kensington since young. However, her feelings was one sided as Duke Kensington didn't s
"Queen Grandma! You must make the wedding happen sooner, if not I might lose my new mother." Lord William said while running over to the Queen the moment he reached her inner chambers. Duke Kensington was following closely behind and bowed when he reached her. Queen Serina was puzzled. This little fireball was chattering non-stop about Lady Melissa the moment he saw her today. What's going on? She looked up with a questioning look at Duke Kensington, hoping he could explain. "Your Majesty, my son and I visited Lady Melissa few days ago. They became best friends." With just these two sentences, Queen Serina understood everything. She smiled while holding Lord William in her arms. "Do you like Lady Melissa, William?" She asked the young boy. "Yes, of course! She's so beautiful and kind. She even baked me cookies herself. She will be the best mother ever! Can she live with me anytime soon? Please Queen Grandma." Lord William asked with both his hands clasped together, begging the
In fact, when Duke Malcom mentioned the wedding dress, Melissa was surprised to know that the Kensington Estate's colours were sapphire blue. That was the colour she loved most and in fact, before she died in the real life, she had purchased a sapphire dress. She loved the design of the dress and wanted to replicate it. To do that, she needed some sketching materials and colours. As the original Lady Melissa didn't paint, there was no arts materials at home for her to use. When she was ready to leave, Lily gasped when she saw her. "My Lady, you can't go out like that. That dress was too simple for you! Let me dress you again." In fact, Melissa didn't like the heavy and tacky gowns which noble ladies seemed to wear in this era. She preferred something light and easy to move around with. Hence, she had secretly altered some of her dresses and got rid of the fluffy, frilly and lacy stuffs on them. At first, Lily was shocked to see these modifications but soon got used to it when Me
"Oh, fancy meeting you here Your Grace. Are you buying arts supplies too?" Melissa acted calm and decided to ignore Duke Kensington's displeasure towards her. She could see through his eyes that he was disturbed by her sitting down on the floor like this. 'Who cares! I'm not your wife yet!' Ignoring her question, Duke Kensington asked, "Aren't you getting up?" "I'm not done yet." Melissa answered while continuing to choose her colours, completely ignoring her fiancé, who was obviously trying to get her attention. Duke Kensington looked at the young lady sitting on the floor and couldn't help but be amused at this scene. He wasn't particularly pleased with it but somehow he couldn't bring himself to reprimand her. She was so immersed with what she's doing, as if she's in her own world and he didn't want to disturb that. After standing there gazing at her for a few minutes, getting no response from her at all, Duke Kensington decided to move to a nearby bench and wait for her. Th
Duke Kensington was enjoying the ride much more than he expected. The girl in front of her was quiet and seemed immersed in her own thoughts. She was different from those other women who always tried any means to get near him, seduce him or get him into their bed. If there's another lady inside this carriage with him, that woman would have thrown herself at him! But this young lady didn't seem to be that much interested in engaging with him. In fact, from the looks of it, she must be trying so hard to ignore his presence at this moment. Not a chance!"Do you like to paint?" Duke Kensington asked.Lady Melissa turned to look at Duke Kensington when she heard his question. She tried to remember what the author had written about this male lead in the novel. Didn't the male lead was said to be cold, unfeeling and most importantly, he didn't like to interact with women, even with his wife? The way things were now had completely deviated from the storyline. First, he approached her when she
At 9 in the morning, the Kensington's carriage arrived at the Knights' mansion. Melissa was waiting at the main gate with her maid-in-waiting. She looked resplendent in a deep green gown, her hair was coiled into a braided bun, secured by a diamond encrusted pin. The only other jewellery she wore was a simple necklace with an emerald pendant. She looked fresh and radiant, and unlike her usually can't-wait-to-run-away-from-him attitude, she was actually smiling when the carriage drew nearer.He was captivated with her smile and was almost smiling back at her when he suddenly heard her shouted while waving her arms excitedly, "William! William!""Mother! Mother! I'm here to fetch you! We're going to see Queen Grandma today!" Lord William's tiny head poked out of the carriage while shouting back at the beautiful girl standing not far away. "William, mind your words, Lady Melissa is not married to me yet. You shouldn't call her that." Annoyed at his misconception earlier, Duke Kensington
A lonely figure with an exquisite looking face stood on one of the balconies overlooking the palace entrance and watched the scene below. No one dared to approach this man who exuded a dangerous aura at the moment. Being born as the eldest prince, he's destined to inherit the throne one day. However, his cold and aloof aura made him unapproachable and those who interacted with him were always cautious in their actions and words towards him. He was ruthless in his approach and seldom offered mercy on those who wronged him. It was said that this prince also didn't have any interest in any of the noble ladies around him, and had remained unattached until today. Many marriage proposals from prominent families were offered to the Queen discreetly but all of them were rejected by the prince, citing they're not worthy of him. After the prince threw a big tantrum about this the last time this subject was broached, the Queen relented and didn't bring it up again. No one knew what the prince wa
As they approached the dining table, the maids all curtsied before the Queen. Melissa looked across the table and saw a handsome young man and a beautiful woman were already seated. As they saw the Queen, they went over and greeted the Queen affectionately. 'This must be the Queen's children'.Queen Serina introduced the young prince and princess to Melissa. The friendly young man was the Queen's younger son, Prince Xander while the arrogant looking girl was Princess Katherine. Melissa extended her curtsies to both the royals when Princess Katherine suddenly said loudly, "So, you're the famous Lady Melissa? The one that went into hiding for years without seeing other people?" Princess Katherine was in fact boiling in anger when she saw how affectionate Duke Kensington was with Lady Melissa moments ago. 'Zachary never smiled at me like that before! How dare this bitch try to seduce him!'Melissa was in the middle of curtsying when Princess Katherine said that. She almost lost her compo