Tangled By Fate

"Master, what can we do for you?" the girls asked Darius.

"Make him drunk," Darius whispered to them.

The girls giggled. One of them coquettishly said, "Oh my! This is such an easy job. We are hoping for a good reward after that."

"That's why I love you all." Darius didn't forget to kiss their cheeks.

Sebastian was sitting in the corner of the room. He was motionless. He blankly stared outside the window.

He kept recalling his time to Catherine. The more he thought about those memories, the more he realized that those would be forever his memories.

'I was too late… wasn't I? I should have confessed to you way before. I shouldn't have teased you all the time. I shouldn't have argued with you whenever we met. I should have been gentle with you. I should have been… more mature…'

'If I change myself now and be the man you like… will you accept me? I'll do anything… everything to change myself. I will be the man you like. I will forget who I really am. So please…'

He shuddered and then hugged his body.

He was on the verge of crying. Tears streamed down his face. He covered them with his arm. The tears were sucked by his woolen sleeves.

"Master… Please have a drink. This drink will help you to forget all your worries and sadness."

The girls came closer and one of them shoved a glass of wine at him.

Sebastian reached out his hand without looking. The girl handed him the glass. He grabbed the glass and emptied it in a few gulps.

The girls sat close to him. One of them fanned him with a huge fan. Another one poured him wine from time to time. Another girl played the lyre. Someone else sang a song.

~Heart craves for love,

Love craves affection,

Caring beyond the boundary,

Tears heart permanently~

Sebastian listened to the song. The heartbreaking song sounded sweeter than honey. He drank more and more before he passed out.

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The next day, Catherine went to the resort with Vincent.

"Mother, look, I brought someone with me," he announced the moment he entered his house.

Their house was on another hill beside the resort hill. Those two hills were bought by Vincent's father. Their two-storied house was simple and cozy. It gave a friendly and comfortable vibe.

"Who is with you? I tell you to show me my future daughter-in-law but you never listen. You must want me to die without seeing my grandchild's face. I won't talk to you unless you bring her to me!" his mother shouted from the kitchen.

Catherine's heart pounded when her future mother-in-law mentioned grandchild. She bashfully glanced at her fiancé.

Vincent was amused. He teasingly said, "If you talk like that, your future daughter-in-law will run away in embarrassment."

"Huh?" Realizing that her son said something important, the mother ran out of the kitchen.

She was a woman around fifty. The tanned skin had a touch of old age. Her mixed brown and gray hair were tied as a bun. Her green simple gown was neat and clean. Her apron had a touch of flour.

From a glance, anyone could say that she was a tough, hard-working woman.

When she saw a beautiful blonde girl standing next to her son with a huge amount of gifts, she covered her mouth. She couldn't believe her eyes.

"My eyes aren't deceiving me, are they? Am I seeing this right? Is this the girl you were dating?"

"Yes, mother. That's her. She is Catherine. Catherine, meet my mother." Vincent introduced them.

"H-hello mam, it's an honor to meet you. I've heard lots of things about you from Vincent." Catherine bowed to greet her.

She was nervous. Her heart was beating like crazy. Her voice quivered when she talked.

The face of Vincent's mother immediately broke out a smile.

"Oh, Catherine, it's so wonderful to meet you. I've been telling Vincent to bring you home from the moment I heard that he was dating a girl. I was always curious just what kind of girl finally made my son think about making a family. I'm so glad you finally came over."

She grabbed Catherine's hands and pulled her forward. "Come and sit. I just baked some cookies. You will be the first person to taste them. I hope they will be of your taste."

"I heard that you are a wonderful baker, mam. I'm sure it will suit my taste." Catherine nervously smiled at her.

"Why do you keep calling me 'mam'? Call me 'mother'," Vincent's mother was friendly. "I'm sure you came here after you agreed to marry this rascal. I must say that he is quite a handful."

Catherine giggled.

"Mother, if you complain to her about me, she will run away from me. It was really hard to make her say 'yes', you know." Vincent carried the gifts inside. "She bought so many things for you. You should at least thank her."

"Oh my! You bought them by yourself?" Vincent's mother gasped and then glanced at Catherine.

"I didn't buy everything. Half of them were bought by Vincent," Catherine told her.

"Not at all. Catherine bought most of them. I just accompanied her," Vincent corrected her.

"Look at you two. You need to save money for your future family. Why did you have to spend money on some old people? We will die soon." Although Vincent's mother complained, she couldn't control her happiness.

Catherine let out a deep breath that she was holding in for a while. 'Oh, thank goodness that she did oppose this. I've spent a fair amount to buy these gifts. As long as she is happy with this, I'm relieved. After all, who doesn't love presents?'

Vincent looked around to find something and then asked his mother, "Mother, I don't see father. Where did he go?"

"Your father has gone to the restaurant to check if the customers are getting a proper meal. He will come back soon," his mother replied. "Catherine, sit here."

"Thank you." Catherine sat down.

The woman sat beside her and said, "Tell me about yourself, Catherine. What do you do and how many people are there in your family?"

Vincent also sat down on another couch. He was also curious about Catherine's background which he hardly knew.

Catherine anxiously looked down. "I'm not sure what you were expecting from me but I'm an orphan. I grew up in the temple. I recently got permission to go out."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were an orphan," Vincent's mother sympathized with her. "I heard about the temple's teachings. I've met a few children who grew up in the temple in our kingdom. They are nice, well-behaved children. I'm sure the priests taught you well."

"Yes, I'm forever in debt to them."

"So, what do you do? Since you have no one to look after, do you have a job?" Her blue eyes were staring at the girl beside her.

"Yes, I've been working in the Imperial Palace as an Accountant."

Vincent's mother was astonished. "Oh my! You keep surprising me, Catherine. It must be hard to get a job in such a big place."

Catherine shook her head. "Not at all. The Imperial Palace always takes employees from the temple. They believe that the children who grow up in the temple are more loyal than others. And, that's actually true.

"So, they keep some seats for us. In the temple, we were educated properly so that we could get jobs anywhere. The Imperial Palace chose me based on my result."

"Oh, Goddess Juvena, please forgive me for lying to them. I didn't mean to lie to them but I had no other choice!' she prayed.

Vincent's mother's face relaxed slightly. "I see, then you must be a hard worker. I'm sure you are talented and educated enough to be picked up by them."

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A/N:

I kind of want to share today's event, more accurately I want to vent my feelings. Today's exam was crap. I don't know what was the problem with the examiner; she asked me so many difficult questions. She asked me about laws and rules. I'm not even interested in law. How am I supposed to answer those questions? And then suddenly she asked me about what kind of rules I want to change and how I can change them. I never tried to change rules or I never wanted to be a ruler who can change the rules. Well, it was a shit exam and I hated it. I think the result is going to be so miserable that I have to take another exam I wish I didn't have to take. Anyways, I just cried with Sebastian. We both cried for something else.l Well, I definitely cried for the number which I needed more than he needed Catherine. Tomorrow, after the exam, I just need a break. I wish I could take a long break but a small break is enough. See you tomorrow.

Sorry to make you listen to me guys. I just needed to share with somebody.

TT.TT