Serenade In Shadows Beneath The Veil of Deception 11

Episode 11: Creating Serenade In Shadows Meant For Her.

Jacinth’s gaze snaps to him as he removes the ring. Her breath catches in her throat, and for a brief moment, she’s paralyzed by confusion and something—a pang she can’t quite name.

Jacinth Ashbourne

What...

She begins, her voice faltering.

Zander edged nearer to Jacinth, each step measured and full of intent. He reaches for the necklace at her neck, his fingers brushing lightly against her skin as he carefully knots the ring onto the chain. His touch is gentle, but there’s an undeniable weight in the gesture—something that speaks of his inner turmoil.

Zander Von Edrington

Until I return.

Jacinth stands still, her eyes wide with surprise. The soft clink of the ring settling into place is the only sound, oddly rhythmic to her heartbeat.

Zander Von Edrington

Keep it, alright?

Zander says quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. His gaze lingering on her necklace before meeting her eyes.

Zander Von Edrington

It's a reminder.

With the ring resting on her necklace, Jacinth feels a strange mixture of emotions swirl inside her—hurt, understanding, and something else she can’t quite place. She never could.

Love Story—Indila

Not support

She looked into his eyes.

Zander Von Edrington

That I will always be with you.

Their gazes are held and locked— But it’s a fleeting moment before he looks away, turning his attention to the door.

Zander Von Edrington

Take care of yourself, Jacinth.

Jacinth Ashbourne

Zan—

She starts, barely above a whisper, but he’s already gone.

The sound of the door slamming shut hangs in the air, with her just standing there in quiet, feeling a strange heaviness in her chest.

. . .

𝘈 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘡𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 ‘𝘚𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦.’ 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘺—𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥—𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭.

𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵; 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵—𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘐’𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰.

Alexandra De Valory

Lady Jacinth?

Jacinth snaps back to reality, her thoughts breaking free as Alexandra raises her voice slightly.

Jacinth Ashbourne

Yes, my apologies. I have been absent-minded.

Alexandra gave a knowing nod.

Jacinth attended her usual charity events—an expected duty for a Duchess. But for her, it wasn’t just an obligation; it was something she genuinely loved. What others might find tedious, she found fulfilling, whether it was teaching children, organizing music events for orphans, or simply anything.

Alexandra De Valory

See you soon then, Lady Jacinth. Have a good night.

She nodded smiling.

. . .

Jacinth got home from the charity event feeling a bit off. Even though the maids had cleaned up, she felt the need to tidy the room herself—it was a habit that helped her relax and sort out her thoughts.

As she dusted the bookshelf, a small leather-bound diary fell to the floor, scattering envelopes of letters across the wooden surface. Her heart skipped as she recognized Zander’s handwriting on the envelopes, and a sense of curiosity overtook her. She hesitated for a moment before picking them up.

Jacinth Ashbourne

These...

There were at least a dozen of them. She wanted to respect Zander's privacy, yet curiosity got the best of her.

Picking the first envelope, she opened it to find a letter. Sitting by the window as the drizzle softly pattered against the glass, she unfolded the paper, her heart hammering against her rib cage as her eyes scanned the words.

𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟑𝐫𝐝, 𝟏𝟖𝟔𝟓 𝓣𝓸𝓭𝓪𝔂 𝓶𝓪𝓻𝓴𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓼𝓽 𝓭𝓪𝔂 𝓘 𝔀𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝔂𝓸𝓾, 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝔀𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝔂𝓮𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓵𝔂 𝓶𝓮𝓮𝓽. 𝓘 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓶𝔂𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓯 𝔀𝓸𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓲𝓷 𝔀𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓘 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓭𝓵𝔂 𝓭𝓮𝓼𝓬𝓻𝓲𝓫𝓮. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓯𝓵𝓮𝓮𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓰𝓵𝓲𝓶𝓹𝓼𝓮 𝓘 𝓱𝓪𝓭 𝓸𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓭𝓪𝔂 𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓸𝓸𝓴𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝓮—𝓱𝓸𝔀 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮 𝓲𝓽 𝓯𝓮𝓮𝓵𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝓸𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓪𝓼 𝓪 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓻, 𝔂𝓮𝓽 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓘 𝓬𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓰𝓮𝓽. 𝓘 𝔀𝓸𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻 𝓲𝓯 𝓯𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓵𝔂 𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓭 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓹𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓬𝓻𝓸𝓼𝓼, 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓷 𝓲𝓯 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓪 𝓶𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽. 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓼 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓭𝓪𝔂, 𝔀𝓮’𝓵𝓵 𝓶𝓮𝓮𝓽 𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷. 𝓩𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻

𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟏𝟎𝐭𝐡, 𝟏𝟖𝟔𝟓 𝓘 𝓶𝓮𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾, 𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷. 𝓘 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓭𝓵𝔂 𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓹 𝓶𝔂𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓯 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓻𝓮𝓹𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓲𝓽 𝓲𝓷 𝓶𝔂 𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓭. 𝓘 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓲𝓽 𝓶𝓮𝓪𝓷𝓼 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓪𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓭𝓪𝔂 𝓽𝓸 𝔂𝓸𝓾, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝓮, 𝓲𝓽 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰. 𝓘 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓰𝓮𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝔂 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓭 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓸𝓸𝓴, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝔂 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓮𝔂𝓮𝓼 𝓵𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓮𝓭 𝓾𝓹 𝓪𝓼 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓫𝓲𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓮𝓼𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓸 𝓹𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓻𝔂. 𝓘 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓶𝔂𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓯 𝓰𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓶𝔂 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓪𝓰𝓮. 𝓣𝓸 𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓪𝓬𝓱 𝔂𝓸𝓾. 𝓩𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻

𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟏𝟕𝐭𝐡, 𝟏𝟖𝟔𝟓 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓭𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓸𝓸𝓴𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝔂𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮. 𝓐 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓶𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓲𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾’𝓵𝓵 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓻𝓮𝓬𝓮𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓼𝓮 𝓵𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼. 𝓘𝓽 𝓼𝓮𝓮𝓶𝓼 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝔀𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝔀𝓱𝓸 𝓭𝓸𝓮𝓼𝓷’𝓽 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔀𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓸. 𝓨𝓮𝓽, 𝓘 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓱 𝓹𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓭𝓪𝔂, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝔀𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓰𝓻𝓸𝔀𝓼 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓻. 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓼 𝓲𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓯𝓸𝓸𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓱𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓼, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓘 𝓭𝓸 𝓲𝓽 𝓪𝓷𝔂𝔀𝓪𝔂. 𝓩𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻

𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟐𝟒𝐭𝐡, 𝟏𝟖𝟔𝟓 𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓭𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓘 𝓺𝓾𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓱 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓼𝓮 𝓵𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓪𝓼 𝓲𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓯𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓮𝓶𝓹𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔂𝓸𝓾. 𝓘 𝓻𝓮𝓰𝓻𝓮𝓽 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓪𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔂𝓸𝓾, 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓘 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾. 𝓤𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓷, 𝓘 𝓻𝓮𝓶𝓪𝓲𝓷 𝓲𝓷 𝓼𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮, 𝓱𝓸𝓵𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓸 𝓱𝓸𝓹𝓮, 𝓱𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓯𝓪𝓲𝓷𝓽 𝓲𝓽 𝓶𝓪𝔂 𝓫𝓮. 𝓩𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻

A tear streaked down her cheeks, smudging a bit of ink on the paper— The last letter she'd picked up.

𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝐬𝐭, 𝟏𝟖𝟔𝟓 𝓙𝓪𝓬𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓱... 𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓽'𝓼 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓷𝓪𝓶𝓮... 𝓔𝓷𝓰𝓪𝓰𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝔂 𝓑𝓻𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻. 𝓐𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮, 𝓘’𝓿𝓮 𝓱𝓮𝓵𝓭 𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾, 𝓲𝓶𝓪𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓱𝓸𝔀 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓹𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓼 𝓶𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓬𝓻𝓸𝓼𝓼 𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷, 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓯𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓶𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓵𝓮𝓽 𝓶𝓮 𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓶𝔂 𝓯𝓮𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝔂𝓸𝓾. 𝓦𝓮 𝓶𝓮𝓽 𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷, 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝔂 𝓘 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓭. 𝓘 𝔀𝓸𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻 𝓲𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓫𝓮 𝓭𝓲𝓯𝓯𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓲𝓯 𝓘 𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓪𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓼𝓮 𝓭𝓪𝔂𝓼. 𝓘 𝓭𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀... 𝓑𝓾𝓽 𝓘 𝓶𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓪𝓬𝓬𝓮𝓹𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓫𝓮𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓱𝓲𝓶, 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓶𝓮. 𝓘 𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓱 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓼, 𝓙𝓪𝓬𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓱. 𝓘'𝓵𝓵 𝓬𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓢𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓪𝓭𝓮 𝓘𝓷 𝓢𝓱𝓪𝓭𝓸𝔀𝓼, 𝓶𝓮𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝔂𝓸𝓾. 𝓩𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻

The letter fell by the side, and the room felt suffocating, the air thick with unshed tears she had never allowed herself to express. Her chest tightened, and before she could stop herself, the tears spilled.

Her sobs were raw, a sound of loss and longing, and in that quiet, tear-streaked moment, she finally understood how much she missed him...

— End of Episode 11 —