Somewhere Only We Know
ladyluck1668
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"So why don't we go, somewhere only we know?"
-Keane
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Chapter 1
The slight breeze, whispering enticingly in the well-trimmed trees of the von Hertzon Manor garden that Sunday afternoon in July, reminded Alice all too much of a freedom that she lost.
Closing Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night', her chocolate brown eyes fluttered closed and she felt the breeze tickle her skin. She allowed a sad smile to cross her lips as she began to reminisce.
She knows that she should be grateful. Her marriage to Klaus von Hertzon, one of the most wealthy nobleman in her province of Wardington, should be good enough to her, but it wasn't. While Klaus was a gentleman, courteous and polite, Alice felt that that was all Klaus was. He was not a 'bad' husband, no. He certainly was not one of those husbands that she saw in her 18 years of life as a commoner, who drank or gambled away all of their money. And he was certainly not one of those married husbands who had an affair with other women. No, Klaus was quite the opposite of that. He gave her everything that any young lady like herself could ever want: jewelry, money to send home to her family, a nice house to live in. He gave her every materialistic item that she could ever want, but the one thing that he could not give her was love.
While Alice knew that arranged marriages don't and won't result in loving marriages, she could only hope for one. But her one-year marriage with Klaus was tearing down her hopes of having a loving spouse. She knew that Klaus was the son of a wealthy businessman and would result in him being far away from home for some periods of time, but she wasn't prepared for the loneliness of it all. She had her library full of books and letters to write back to her family but she was alone. While she did have the servants, they made it very clear on the first day upon her arrival at the von Hertzon Manor as his wife that they were there to do their job and nothing else. And for the rare amount of time that Klaus was at home, he would spend it with his fellow businessmen and if they weren't available, he would then resort to the library, his nose stuck in a book. The two hardly spoke to each other, except for a few pleasantries and small conversation but other than that, they didn't speak to one another. It seemed to Alice that he only married her because of her natural beauty. While she was still a commoner, she was well-known for her natural beauty and sweet nature and somehow, the von Hertzon family must have heard much praise about her that she was sent to the von Hertzon Manor to meet the noble family. They had questioned and inspected her for nearly the entire afternoon upon her first arrival and the very next day, a formal letter written by Klaus asking for her hand in marriage was sent to the Gehabich family. The two married shortly after.
The orange-haired beauty shook her head, as if to clear away the sadness away, and opened her eyes. She got up from the marble bench that she was sitting on and bent down to reach for the Shakespearean book when a sudden rustle startled her. She froze and waited to listen. The rustling continued and it sounded as if it was nearing her.
"Wh-Who's there?" Alice stuttered out, as she lifted a hand to her slightly exposed collarbone.
The rustling seemed to stop for a moment and she supposed that it must have been a rabbit or a small animal of that sort. It wasn't until she was ready to leave the garden when a voice spoke up.
"Alice Gehabich?" A raspy baritone voice asked. The young woman stopped in her tracks. She heard the grass rustling as the footsteps of the intruder neared her. She desperately wanted to run, to move, but she was frozen. The footsteps stopped and Alice dared not turn around to meet the eyes of the intruder.
"Do you not know me, Alice Gehabich?" The voice repeated her name and she let out a shaky breath before she answered.
"I believe that you are mistaken, sir."
"I don't believe I am, madam."
"My name is not Alice Gehabich."
"Why, of course. A change due to...marriage. Three years ago, you were Alice Gehabich."
She knew that she could not ignore it forever, and with that, she turned around and found herself gazing back into a pair of hazel brown eyes.
"Shun..." She murmured.
He gave her a small smirk. "The very same."
For a moment, the two stood there in the garden staring at each other and Alice could feel that same enticing excitement of adventure that she had felt three years ago with him come rushing back to her. But she realized as a young woman, a wife, she had responsibilities and expectations that must be fulfilled. She closed her eyes and shook her head, as if trying to shake out her past.
"I told you to wait for me, Alice." Shun broke their silence with the elephant in the room.
"I-I couldn't Shun. You knew that." Alice swallowed a lump in her throat.
"Three years ago, we made a promise that no matter what happens, we'll always be together."
She sighed heavily. "We were thirteen at that time, young and childish. I didn't think that you would have waited-"
"But I did wait for you." Shun interrupted, his voice had an accusing tone to it, but his brown eyes told her that he was heartbroken. "The only thing that kept me through that wretched ninja training for all of those years was you. And when I finally come home, I come to a letter that you wrote a year ago while I was away saying that you are married."
"I'm-I'm so sorry." Was all she could muster out as she ran towards the manor. She heard him call out to her, but she didn't dare stop or turn around. When she was in the confides of the manor, she hurriedly closed the glass doors that led from the manor to the garden before she slumped unto the ground with flowing tears.
'This isn't real. This isn't real. This isn't real. This isn't real.' She chanted to herself, trying to will herself to believe that Shun Kazami, her childhood lover, was outside in her garden. But a peek through the silk curtains and well-cleaned glass showed the same boy that she fell in love with six years ago still in her garden staring back at her.
End of Chapter 1.
Note: *cries while repeatedly slamming head against the table* WHY. AM. I. DOING. THIS. TO. MYSELF? Okay, so I made a poll asking which story you would like to be updated first and surprisingly, 'Somewhere Only We Know' got the most votes! There was a 3-way tie against 'Hauntingly Beautiful', 'Of Angels and Ninjas' and another story, so I will try my best to update soon. I know that this isn't technically an 'update', but I feel like it is. The last plot that I wrote for this story with the same title seemed horrific to me-lmao, this probably is horrific, too-and I couldn't figure out a why to write the plot out. Instead, I opted for this plot and I PROMISE that I will be sticking to it. This is set in the Elizabethan era-I still love the Victorian era, but I feel like a little change in eras would be fun-for anyone wondering. I hope that this isn't too horrific for you and please let me know if you prefer this plot more or the previous plot. I'll be back soon with an update on 'Hauntingly Beautiful' and 'Of Angels and Ninjas' so please wait for me~! *hugs you all*