Lily-of-the-valley 42

Lily-of-the-valley - sweetness, purity, pure love

Friday March 18th 2016

8:32

Saguru's grandparents' mansion in the mountains

Isabelle's pov

The car pulled up the narrow drive, we were here. The car rolled to a stop along walkway to the front door. I'd been here only once before about five years ago, the old tudor mansion still stood with the same strong prowess. The trees that surrounded the manor, were not coated in white snow like they had been years before, but instead they were dotted with pink sakura blossoms.

We were greeted at the door by Ishii Dai, the butler. He gave a small bow and left in the opposite direction to tell Saguru's grandparents and the other staff of our arrival.

Shortly afterward a familiar face approached us from down the hall.

"Lottie,"I said with a smile.

Lottie, or Lottie Deceaver, was my old nurse who quit her job working for my father about then years back when she nearly died in a vast fire. I felt guilty for her, at the time she was married to our gardener Stephen Deceaver, unfortunately he met his untimely death in that very same fire.

Lottie looked at me and smiled, she twisted a copper ring around her finger, and then gave a small bow. Much like her late husband she had celtic red hair, it was pulled back into a gibson tuck but a few curly strands found their way against the rest.

"It's truly an honor to see you again my Lady Victory," she said.

I cringed at the use of my own title, I hated it, just no.

Heiji and Kazuha looked at me confused.

I laughed nervously," Please Isabelle will be just fine, there's really no need for such titles."

"Alright Isabelle,"Lottie said,"Now if you don't mind I'll be showing you to your rooms, my master and his mistress have already retired for the evening."

She led us through the winding, museum like halls. She stopped every once in a while to assign one of us a room, first Aoko, then Kaito, next Heiji, Kauzaha, finally Saguru. Saguru's room was next to mine which was the front right corner of the house.

I bid Lottie good night and simply she returned the favor with a bow of the head. The room was an average size, on one wall there was a full bed fitted with a lovely quilt. on the opposite wall was a vanity with an antique bowl and pitcher resting upon it. There was an ornate wardrobe carved from oak, next to that sat a dress stand on which was a beautiful lace tea dress, she(referring to the dress) was of the late victorian style, she wasn't an antique however one could simply tell just by looking at the bright white lace and pink ribbons that adorned the bodice and skirt.

I sighed and put my bag down at the foot of the bed. I changed out of my day clothes and into a pair of pajamas. I was about to sit down and read for awhile when someone knocked softly on my door.

"Yes," I said looking over at the door.

"I'm sorry to bother you right now princess, but ah... I was going to set up a video call with your sister and some friends and thought you might want to join," Saguru's voice explained.

I smiled,"Yeah I'll be over in just a moment. If you want you can go ahead and set things up."

"Alright," Saguru said, before I heard him walking away.

I reached into my bag and pulled out a navy, boyfriend, cardigan. I put away the book I had gotten out and headed for the door.

The knob was made of porcelain and brass, the white knob was decorated with many flowers of pastel pinks and purples. I stepped out into the empty hall. It was dark and would have been in total silence had not there been quiet murmurs coming from Saguru's room. I walked over, opened the door, and closed it behind me.

"So Saguru, have you told Isabelle yet?" I heard Mark ask.

Saguru was sitting on a small double bed(queen if you're in the US) with a laptop.

"Tell me what?" I asked, sitting down next to him. I had an idea what they were talking about, we hadn't told them we were dating.

"UUuuhhhh, that he's sorry for leaving," Michael said, panicked.

"You're a really bad liar, you know that right?" I said," It's fine I know what you're talking about anyways."

Francis cleared their throat,"Really, then tell me."

"Well I hardly see any reason to restate a well known fact,"I said,"But I guess you leave me with no choice. To put it simply Saguru sees me as more than just a friend."

The others stared blankly,"What makes you say that Izzy?" Mark said, raising an eyebrow.

"Stop kidding around, she knows that because I told her," Saguru said.

"And?"They all seemed to reply simultaneously.

"We're dating now," Saguru said, looking away from the screen.

This last remark was met with a lot of unnecessary squealing at frequencies only dogs should be able to hear.

"See my advice worked," Michael.

"I didn't follow your advice, mate," Saguru said, blatantly.

"Why not?"

"How many relationships have you been in Michael?" Saguru asked.

"None," Micheal said, not knowing where this was going.

"Okay, so why should I take your dating advice if it clearly doesn't work.

We continued talking like this for an hour or so, we had carried on so late that Saguru had actually fallen asleep. Once that had happened we said our goodbyes and signed off for the evening.

I looked over at the blonde who lay asleep. I was about to get up when he grabbed my wrist,"You don't have to go," he said in a hushed and groggy manner.

I looked at him and gave a shy smile. I slipped under the covers. I curled up next to him and welcomed his warm embrace. He rested his chin upon my head. I wrapped my arms around him, playing with his fluffy mane, and succumbing to his scent of citrus and fresh cut mint.

"I love you"

Saguru's pov

Saturday

March 19th

6:42 am

Sunlight poured in through curtains, gently caressing Princess's sleeping face with it's soft golden light. Small particles of dust drifted in amongst the beams.

Princess scrunched up her face with the growing light, stray hairs falling into her face. I brushed them back and curled up closer to her. She buried her freckled face into my shoulder and let out a small sigh. I held her close, so close I could feel our heartbeats synchronize.

Somewhere outside a spring bird sang her morning song. I looked out the window at the mountain which lay ridden by sakura trees in full bloom.

"What time is it?" Princess asked wearily.

I looked around the room for a clock,"6:43 am," I said.

"No milliseconds this time?" she said.

I paused,"Are you ever too tired to tease me?"

"One doesn't have to try that hard."

I kissed her forehead and climbed out of bed,"Come on you should get up."

"Five more minutes,"She said, pulling the covers over her head.

"It would be best if you got up now, we wouldn't want Kuroba to find we slept together last night."

Princess groaned and pushed aside the covers.

"Oh Princess, I trust that you've seen that dress within your room," I said.

"Do you mean the tea dress?" She asked looking back at me.

"Ah, yes. Well you see my grandmother had that dress made for you. I think it would be best if you wore that today."

She smiled with a light blush,"Alright," she said, leaving the room.

I threw on a pair of white socks and navy Georgian breeches. I switched out my flannel shirt for a white Georgian blouse with a cravat. Instead of a belt I threw on a set of embroidered suspenders.

Over the blouse I wore a rose vest and a navy suit which matched the knee length breeches.

Moments later a knock came on the door,"Breakfast is at quarter after seven," Ms Deceaver said.

"Alright, thank you,"I called back.

I stepped out into the hall. Immediately I was met with a roar of laughter.

I turned to see Kuroba-kun.

"Okay," I said as I watched his face grow red.

Heiji, Aoko, and Kauzaha stuck their heads out of their doors so see what the commotion was.

"You look like a girl," Kaito said between laughs.

'God damn it it's my feminine-esqe legs'

"Actually men dressed like this in England for centuries. You're only making fun of it because it's on me. I want to look like a background character from Oliver Twist and there's nothing you can do about it," I turned around and walked away, flipping Kaito off as I went.

The dining room

Isabelle's Pov

I entered the dining room, hardly even knowing what to expect. I'd been to Japan twice before now, once during Christmas five years ago when I visited Tokyo and celebrated the holiday here, and the second time I stayed here midsummer with Saguru two years ago. I'm pretty familiar with the place, Saguru's grandparents were nice people and I love their company.

"Good morning" I said, taking a seat at the table.

I sat next to Saguru.

"Good morning Isabelle," Saguru's grandmother said,"You look lovely, I do hope you love the dress."

"Yes I do she's gorgeous," I said with a blush.

Lottie brought in food on a cart and served it out.

"You and the maid seem to know each other,"Hattori said.

I looked up at him not expecting this statement.

"Well, yes. Her name's Lottie Deceaver, she used to work for my father, as my governess. Well before her husband passed," I said.

"Oh, how'd he die?"

"Arson," I said," Ten years ago there was a fire at a British museum. Lottie, her husband, and my newborn sister were caught inside. Stephan Deceaver gave his life so that Lottie could get out along with my sister. No one to this day knows who started the fire, its believed to be arson. However as it always does, wives talk passed through the household staff, they said it was started by Mr Deceaver himself. Personally I don't believe that. And there are other speculations of course, but many of those I believe to be faulty."

"Could we please talk about something other than death?" Kauzaha said.

"Yeah like, when the fuck are you going to tie the knot?" Saguru's grandfather grumbled.

Everyone else turned to look at us. I glanced over at Saguru.

"That was very subtle," He said simply.

"First it's marriage, then it's kids. I'm only sixteen, I'm not ready for that yet," I said, looking down into my cup,"Wisely and slowly, they stumble that run fast."

Word count: 804