ONE

1.

"Ms Woods, come on!" Isabelle cries, standing next to the coach.

"It's a bookstore in the capital! You want to sit it out?" Pearl exclaims, waving her hands in the direction of the bookstore in excitement.

"I'll be fine sitting here in the carriage," I adjust the black veil from my hat to make sure that half of my face stays hidden. "Please behave, girls. Have fun." I give them a tiny wave.

"Aren't you tempted to explore the books in the capital?" Pearl asks.

"Why aren't you coming with us?" Isabelle stomps her feet in frustration.

And then she bumps into someone.

I sigh. Luckily, Pearl is quick enough to catch the person her sister bumped into. That person turned out to be a child. A boy with blond hair and green eyes.

"I am so sorry," Isabelle apologizes immediately. She kneels down next to the boy and tries to examine him for any injuries.

The boy stares at us with a guarded expression. He must be only around three or four. Where are his parents? Why do they allow such a small child blundering around so close to the road?

I have a small bag of candies with me. It's my old habit. I take one from my pouch and step down from the coach. The girls are under my care and as their governess it's my duty to solve this problem.

"Hello, little one." I smile and offer him a candy. "Where are your mother and father?"

To try to look more friendly, I adjust my hat so that the veil is only covering my forehead and part of my eyes.

He looks like a boy from a rich household. His clothes are definitely of quality and his light blond hair is neatly combed back with style.

His green eyes widen a bit and then one of his hands slowly moves forward to pick up the candy on my palm. That's when his little hand hangs onto my palm and refuses to let go.

"Mama!" he whispers.

The smile on my face wavers. I pat on his head and chuckle, "I must look like his mother."

"But where are his parents?" Isabelle asks.

"Maybe we should ask the staff in the bookstore? I saw him running out from the store."

I nod in agreement.

"Master Cole!" someone shrieks behind me. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

This voice seems strangely familiar.

A woman enters the scene and pats the boy, Cole, nervously, as if checking to see if he has suffered any injuries in her absence.

I discretely tugs the hat back to its original place with my other hand, the hand not being hanging onto by Cole.

"Mama!" Cole repeats the word again.

"You cannot just run out... what?" the woman stutters and draws her eyebrows together in confusion. Then she looks up.

I have to leave. I have to. I try to gently remove my clammy hand from Cole's little hand, but in vain.

"What are all of you doing here?" Someone asks from behind us. A man jumps out of a coach, the carriage must have stopped behind ours amidst all our confusion.

2

My hand is finally released by the little boy. Cole runs towards the man and cries, "Papa!"

The man ruffles his son's hair and says, "Let's go home."

Cole shakes his head and points towards me, "Mama."

The man raises his eyebrow and looks at me.

"Oh, Ms Woods, you must look terribly like his mother." Pearl giggles.

I take a tiny step backwards secretly and then another.

The man leans down and picks up his son. "You see your mother?"

Cole nods and points at me again.

The man saunters slowly towards us.

"Mama!" Cole looks at me with his green expectant eyes.

"This is a misunderstanding, sir. We are so sorry," Isabelle says with a small blush. "Your son thought our governess is his mother. Maybe the two have similar hairstyles?"

"Ah...Cole has never seen his mother in person before," the man says nonchalantly with a bored expression.

Isabelle and Pearl freeze.

"We're sorry." The two mumble their apologies in embarrassment.

I'm nearly by the coach when the man says, "Poor Cole, your mother abandons you just like what she did to your poor father."

"Abandon?" Cole's green eyes blink innocently. He stares at me with his innocent eyes dejectedly.

"Yes, she thro..."

I step closer to him to stop him before he says something spiteful.

"Your son'll be hurt by your words! He's just a child!" I said worriedly in a low voice. I know him, his words pierce.

"My son?" he raises his eyebrow, an evil glint in his eyes. "Isn't he your son as well?"

I evade his piercing gaze. He hasn't changed one bit, doing things as he likes.

Isabelle and Pearl gasp in unison and exclaim, "I think I'm going to faint."

"Who are you mourning for?" Like a toss of a coin, he changes topics just as quickly as his mood. He flicks the black veil covering my face with his finger flippantly.

"My dead brother." I say while looking at the floor, refusing to look at him.

"Ah, I thought you're going to say dead husband. What a relief."

"Wait, sir, that's very rude of you!" Isabelle says angrily.

"Ms Woods is really sad about her late brother! He's her only family!" Pearl adds.

"That's sweet, I never thought I had such a place in your heart, my dear sister."

"What?" Isabelle and Pearl scream again.

"My brother is dead," I say firmly, looking him straight in his eyes. I know he hates me looking at him.

"So is my sister. What a coincidence." He stares back.

Finally, after a moment of silence, he pats my head with his hand, just like how he has done many times before when I was his 'sister'.

"Are you finally going home, Lettie?"

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