Chapter Three is finally here! This one is a bit longer; I hope you like it! :)
So you aren't confused by my fanon names:
Felicja Héderváry - Fem Poland
Alice Kirkland - Fem England
Also, in this story, Ludwig is not related to Gilbert at all, hence why Ludwig has a different last name: Strahler.
It was ten in the morning, and a warm day for April. Summer was already beginning to show. Blossoms and trees were alive, and the birds sang loudly. Usually Rebekka would lean out her window to enjoy the day, but today, she could not be bothered to care. Her hair was done up in a loose bun with chocolate curls framing her face. After she had finished with her hair, she had tried on dresses all morning, trying to find the perfect one to draw Élías' eye, and as her gaze settled upon her ivory gown, she knew.
"Perfect!" Rebekka felt a sweet sense of revenge welling up inside her. If Emma got her mother's garnet necklace, then what could be more fun than not even wearing the dress that Emma had begged for yesterday? Emma couldn't have it, even if Rebekka wasn't wearing it. Though, that wasn't the only reason she wanted to wear her ivory dress instead; it really was a beautiful dress. It was made out of chiffon and silk, and the cap sleeves, almost reaching her elbows, were trimmed with pure white lace, and the chiffon caught the sunlight, sparkling. The neckline was rounded, resting just above her breasts, with a long, violet ribbon, the same color as her eyes, tied underneath her bosom, hanging nearly to the floor. She added light blue slippers and a cameo necklace to the outfit, and she was ready.
"Fräulein Rebekka, you aren't going anywhere until you eat something." Natalya's voice was the very sound of dread to Rebekka at this moment.
"No, I'll save my eating for the party; Élías said he likes a girl with a good appetite." She said, tying her bonnet just under her left ear and making her way toward the door.
"What men say and what they think are two different things, Fräulein Rebekka. And I haven't noticed Herr Élías asking to marry you."
Rebekka turned sharply to scowl at Natalya. The blonde housemaid grinned in satisfaction. As Rebekka sat down at her table and began to shovel food into her mouth, Natalya ran over to her to wrap a napkin around her neck.
"Don't be dropping crumbs and food on your gown! And don't eat so fast!"
Suddenly, from out of the window, she could hear her father's bellowing voice. "Rebekka! If you're not down here in thirty seconds, we're leaving without you!"
She jumped out of her seat and ran to the window. "I'm coming, Vater!" She rushed to the door and left in a flash. She quickly walked down the stairs and ran outside to the carriage.
"That's my girl! Now, everybody in!" Rebekka, Emma, and Johannes climbed into the carriage, and Johannes told the driver to go.
Rebekka was happy that her mother would not be attending the party with them. She could eat and flirt and dance as much as she wanted and not have her mother on her back the whole time, though she was sure that Emma would tell on her tomorrow. If her plan worked out, that wouldn't matter, she and Élías would be in Vienna and married by the end of the day, and the joy of the marriage would much outweigh the anger of Rebekka being so wild.
That morning, Johannes had dismissed Mathias Køhler, and Klara had stayed behind to go over the accounts with him before he took his departure. Rebekka had kissed her mother goodbye that morning, and Herr Køhler had stood beside her, his youthful face hardly containing the look of pure hate that he felt at being so ridiculously kicked out of the best overseer's job in town just for who he loved.
The day, Rebekka believed, was the most gorgeous day in a long while. She breathed in the scents of the morning while she thought of her perfect plan unfolding exactly the way she wanted it to. She would tell her children and grandchildren of the beautiful spring when she married Élías, and she would tell them that they would never see a spring more beautiful. It was impossible for her to feel anything but delight this morning, and she even joined her father on a chorus of one of his favorite old songs.
"I don't know what's gotten into you this morning." Emma stated harshly. "I don't know why you're so happy." Emma was dreadfully upset that she was not allowed to wear Rebekka's blue dress to the party. When she had seen that Rebekka was not even going to wear the dress, she had been furious. Rebekka knew that, and frankly, she didn't care. This perfect day would not be ruined by Emma's prissy attitude. "I know Élías is going to announce his engagement to Fräulein Lilian tonight at the ball, and I know you've been after him for months."
"That's all you know." Rebekka smirked at her and turned back to look out the window, sunlight streaming in. Emma scowled.
The Edelstein carriage slowed as Rebekka noticed the glorious Héderváry home out the window. Tall and stately, the house was like a palace, and a dull roar of voices escaped from the property as the carriage turned up the driveway. Excitement took hold of Rebekka. It would only be a few minutes until she could tell Élías about her feelings, and it would only be a few minutes until he would return them. The horses padded to a halt, and the girls exited the carriage to be greeted by Miklos himself. He waited out front to greet every guest as they arrived. The Héderváry family was known throughout the country for their amazing hospitality. Rebekka looked around the spacious yard, noticing just how many people were there. In her thoughts, it seemed like just about the whole town was there. She and Emma climbed the steps and were greeted by Élías' sister, Felicja. Rebekka didn't like Felicja one bit. While Emma got along with her quite well, Rebekka found her to be arrogant and ditzy. Johannes always complimented Felicja on her gorgeous green eyes and blonde hair, but Rebekka knew he didn't really mean it. Felicja was plain.
"Miklos! Nice to see you again! It's a lovely day for a party, don't you think?" She heard her father exclaim as she stepped into the house and out of earshot. Left and right, men paid her their every notice, and she smiled back to all of them, until she caught sight of Élías on the grand staircase in the entry hall.
"Élías!" She called out to him. "Oh Élías, I have something I must tell you."
He glanced down toward the doorway. "Rebekka, I'm glad to see you. I have something to tell you as well. I hope you'll be glad to hear it. Come say hello to my cousin Lilian."
Rebekka hesitated. "Must we?"
"She's been looking forward to seeing you again." Élías said gently as he led her down the staircase. "Lilian! Here's Rebekka."
She turned to Rebekka with grace, a gown of the lightest pink silk and chiffon cascading to the floor, and her hair, a perfect blonde tone, done up in a loose braid and hanging just to the left of her face. "Rebekka! It's so nice to see you again."
Feigning innocence, Rebekka laughed. "Lilian Zwingli, what a surprise to see you here! I hope you'll stay with us for a few days at least!" Élías took Lilian's hand in his.
"I hope to stay much longer, long enough for us to become good friends Rebekka. I would really like that."
"Oh we'll have to just make a big fuss over her, won't we Élías? We'll show her a real good time, won't we?"
Lilian smiled. "Rebekka, you have so much love. I wish I could be like you."
"Oh Lilian, you shouldn't say things you don't mean." Rebekka laughed.
"No one could accuse Lilian of being insincere." Élías said more to Lilian than to Rebekka.
"Oh then she's not like you, is she Élías?" She looked to Lilian. " Élías never means a word he says to any girl, isn't that right?"
At that moment, Rebekka was interrupted by Lilian's older brother, Vash Zwingli. He was a rather plain boy, quite shy around girls, but he held a quick temper behind his green eyes and mop of brilliant blonde hair. Though, he would never show his temper in the presence of a lady.
"Oh Vash Zwingli, I haven't seen you in ages!" She extended a hand to him, and he blushed and laid a shy kiss on the back of it.
"Fräulein Rebekka, I-"
"Lilian, did you bring your handsome brother all the way over from Switzerland just to break my poor, Austrian heart?"
From across the room, Emma and Felicja watched as Rebekka threw herself at Vash.
"Look at that, Rebekka never cared a bit for Vash before, and now she's after him because he's yours!" Emma said. Even though Vash had an agreement to marry Felicja, he was not happy about it. She didn't spark a passion inside of him. He had always wanted to marry someone fiery and beautiful, and now, Rebekka Edelstein was here flirting with him!
"Vash Zwingli, you better save me a seat next to you for lunch! And don't you go talking to any other girls, or I'll be very jealous!" She turned to head up the stairs.
He finally managed to croak out an answer. "I-I won't, Fräulein Rebekka! D-don't worry!"
As she started up the stairs, Ludwig Strahler noticed her.
"You look beautiful today, Fräulein Rebekka." He took her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles.
"Why, Ludwig Strahler, danke! And I have to say that you look quite handsome as well. Your new haircut looks dashing." She fluttered her eyelashes playfully.
Ludwig blushed and ran a hand over his perfectly slicked-back, blonde hair. "D-danke, Fräulein Rebekka."
Emma and Felicja still had their eyes glued to her.
Felicja laughed. "You should really be careful too, now she's got her eye on your man!" Emma scowled at her sister. She was not going to stand for this.
"Oh Ludwig, if I saved you a seat next to me for lunch, would you join me?"
Emma suddenly wrapped a firm hand around Ludwig's arm and pulled him away from Rebekka, sneering at her sister.
"Uhh, I'll s-see what I can do, Fräulein Rebekka."
She shrugged and continued up the stairs, meeting the Vargas boys halfway. "Feliciano and Lovino Vargas! You handsome young things! Oh wait, I forgot that I'm mad at you!"
Both boys were suddenly very upset and jumped away from the women they were with, both bombarding Rebekka with questions of "Why?" and "What did we do?"
"You haven t talked to me all morning, and I only wore this old dress because I thought you liked it! I was planning on eating lunch with you two!"
"You will be!" Lovino cried.
"Yeah, we wanna eat lunch with you too!"
"Oh, you two. I can never decide who's more handsome." She turned to continue up the steps. "Really! I was up all night last night trying to figure it out." She climbed a few steps, leaving them staring at her, until their dates pulled them away from her and down the grand staircase.
As she made her way up the stairs, she noticed a man staring at her from the bottom floor. He was standing a few feet away from where she had been talking with Vash. She noticed her friend Alice and moved quickly toward her.
"Alice, who's that man down there? The one looking at us and smirking?"
"Don't you know, love? That's Gilbert Beilschmidt! He's from Prussia, and apparently he's got a horrible reputation."
Rebekka looked down slyly at him. He had silver-white hair even though he looked no older than twenty-two. He grinned up at her with a look she had never seen a gentleman give her. She felt as though she should be offended at his gaze, and she was mad at herself that she wasn't.
"What did he do to get such a bad reputation?" Rebekka asked.
"Well, I heard he took a girl out for a carriage ride in the late afternoon without a chaperone, stayed out almost all night, and then, the next day he refused to marry her! He said he hadn't done anything to her, so he didn't feel obligated to marry her! The girl's brother confronted him about it, they had a duel, Herr Beilschmidt shot him, and he died! Now, no one back home accepts him or talks to him, not even his parents!"
Rebekka leaned in to whisper in Alice's ear. "Did she have a baby?"
"No, but that didn t stop the rumours."
"I wish Élías had compromised me like that. Then, he'd be too much of a gentleman to not marry me." She thought, though part of her respected Beilschmidt for refusing to marry that fool of a girl.
Thanks for reading! :)