220 MISHLAS ENTANGLEMEN (2/2)

”Milord, it's from 'that' manor.”

Mishla quickly understood what the valet meant. ”What is it? Quickly, tell me!”

”The lady is back.”

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Mishla was riding his horse towards the direction of Hanover Manor. His heart was beating wildly inside his chest. He couldn't tell if he was excited or scared. But one thing was for sure – he couldn't wait to see Aurum again.

When he received the message last evening that Aurum was back, he wanted to be at Hanover manor right at that moment. But reason prevailed and he managed to stop himself. It was highly inappropriate for him to go there at that hour. Especially since it was quite obvious that she came back to Albion secretly. He only managed to know about her return because he paid one of the gardeners a few weeks back to immediately tell him about any news he heard about Aurum.

He knew it was wrong of him to do that. It's like he's violating her privacy. But what could he do? For some reason, after they talked a few weeks back, Aurum started to avoid his calls. If she wasn't posting on her [Jiffy] account from time to time, he might have thought that something bad had happened to her. That she was in some sort of danger. But it turned out that that wasn't the case. She probably just simply didn't want to answer his calls.

He didn't know what happened. He wasn't even sure if he did something wrong. No matter how much he racked his brains out, he couldn't think of anything that might have had offended her. So, this was all he could do. But now that she's back, he wanted to know the answer from her herself.

No matter what it might be.

Mishla chose a path where not a lot of people passed by. It's best if no one saw him going to Hanover Manor. Because it's quite obvious that Aurum didn't want others to know of her return. Probably because it had not been a secret that the King had been clamoring to match her with Winter. But because both the duke and the duchess, even Aurum herself, were not in Albion, he couldn't do proceed with his plan.

Not that it would matter if they were here. It's not as if Winter would agree. Not to mention, the duke. That one would definitely not agree.

Soon, he arrived at Hanover Manor. He jumped off from his horse and tied the reins to a nearby tree. Then he walked towards the manor and knocked on the door. The one who opened it was the manor's severe-looking butler – Gregory.

”Lord Brightmore,” Gregory directly called his title. ”May I ask what might have brought you here?”

”Good morning. I'm here to visit Aurum.” Mishla saw the imperceptible frown on the butler's face. So, before he could refuse him, he quickly said, ”Please, I know she's here. I just need to talk to her. I promise I won't tell anyone that she's here. Please…”

Gregory probably saw how determined (desperate) he was, so he relented and let him in.

”The drawing room is this way, Lord Brightmore,” Gregory said, gesturing for him to follow.

”No, it's alright. I'll just wait here.”

Gregory nodded and told one of the passing maids to call Aurum. Mishla couldn't help fidgeting. He felt truly nervous. He didn't even notice how many seconds have already passed. He couldn't care less about his surroundings. That was until he heard that familiar sweet voice.

”Mishla?”