As we walked past the many graves I glanced at the many names etched on the tombstones 'Marquess Antonio R. Klein, Duke Raphael D. Wolfgang II, Marquise Rosalie R. Klein' Were the names that stood out the most due to the amount of flowers and other offerings that were offered to their graves.
'Must've been some national heroes. How nice it must be to be so beloved, even after death.'
"We've arrived," Pandres whispered to get my attention, I guess she noticed that I was distracted.
Unlike the other graves, this grave was small and had no name etched on the tombstone.
Then the old man got on his knees and put his hands together.
"Hey, mind telling me why there's no name?" I whispered, but she just ignored me. She was too busy also praying.
Leaving on me and Angel, who looked very uncomfortable.
After a minute, Pandres opened her eyes.
"This is where we need to give him some privacy."
We then moved a bit farther away, it seemed that the old man had broken down into inconsolable sobs.
'It's his deceased wife, while I can't relate and hope to never relate. I can understand why he's like this.'
"Now I can tell you about Angel's mother."
"It's not that long of a story, but you needed to see her tombstone to know how bad it was."
I stayed silent and just listened to her.
"Ms. Zecilia T. Klein, the mother of Angel, wife of Duke Ozyman, and third daughter of the noble house of Klein. She was a radiant woman, beloved by all and hated by none."
"She met Duke Ozyman on her 16th birthday. contrary to popular belief, she wasn't much of a people person and disliked large crowds. That was why she was out wandering around the streets."
"She had heard a young man's cry for help and rushed to see what was happening. That was when she found a young man being chased by a wild dog."
"And so she, without a second thought, ran to the rescue of the young man and used her heels to scare off the dog."
"But the dog didn't run away, it had lunged at Ms. Zecilia, but was tackled just in the nick of time. The once terrified man had tackled the dog."
"That was when a group of armed men came to their rescue. It seemed that her parents noticed her disappearance and then knowing their daughter's antics sent the guards to look for her."
"After everything had calmed down and it was safe, the young man asked for the girl's name before she was escorted back."
"But before she could answer, another group of knights had arrived."
"Ah I gotta go, but the name's Ozyman. I hope we can meet again soon!" And with that, the young man ran away into the lightless night.
"'I never got to tell him my name.' Was the only thing that Ms. Zecilia could think of at the time."
"And so, she returned to the party, but when she went through the doors expecting a jubilant crowd of people, she found a murmuring crowd staring at one spot."
"When she followed their gaze, she found the object of their attention. It was a man whose clothes were covered in mud, she immediately recognized the man."
"The man turned his gaze to the opened doors and waved at Ms. Zecilia. 'Oh hey! Wasn't expecting to see you here.'"
"Her parents immediately pulled the two of them aside and started asking Ms. Zecilia if she knew what had happened to the 'young lord.'"
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
"The confused Ms. Zecilia just kept staring at the man that her parents were referring to as the 'young lord.', 'how could that man be a lord?'"
"After she had told them the story, they sighed a sigh of relief. 'I don't know what the Duke would have done if him being dirty was our fault.' Her father muttered."
"And so the man got cleaned and got a change of clothes and was then finally allowed to go back."
"But for Ms. Zecilia, who was allowed to go back much earlier than him was bombarded with questions about the man."
"She tried to explain to the best of her abilities, but the amount of questions was too much for her, to the point that she was feeling dizzy. And so she excused herself to her room."
"There she found the man waiting for her, surprised she took a step back and missed her footing. As she was falling the man grabbed her and also fell with her."
"At that, they both laughed. After a bit they both got up Ms. Zecilia asked him what he was doing in her room.'"
"He apologized and said 'I didn't get a chance to thank you for coming to my rescue earlier and with the crowd of people, I thought your room would be the best place to talk to you.' He also added that he got permission from her parents. Which annoyed her because she knew what they were up to."
"After thanking her, he asked for her name. 'Zecilia Klein.' He laughed and said he already knew her name."
"And after he said his piece, he left, but before he left Ms. Zecilia asked 'Will I ever get to see you again?'"
"He laughed and assured her that they would meet again."
"After that fateful day, the Duke kept sneaking out at night to meet Ms. Zecilia in secret."
Okay, now it was time for me to interject.
"Pandres, you just told me a whole bunch of nothing." Her eyes which were beaming with happiness quickly dimmed and stared up at me as if I had just rained on her parade.
"It's important. And it's certainly not a whole bunch of nothing, it's a classic love story, that brought many a people to tears!" I just flicked her forehead and told her to get on with the story then.
"Fine, and after their secret meetings became more common, it was just a matter of time till someone caught on. And unfortunately, for them, the one who caught on was the Duke's older brother, who happened to be in love with Ms. Zecilia.
"After he found out, he went to their father, Duke Raphael D. Wolfgang III, expecting him to forbid them from meeting, but the Duke had other plans."
"He asked Duke Ozyman, 'Do you love her?' Due to their multiple meetings, the Duke had fallen head over heels for Ms. Zecilia."
"And so he was told to ask for Ms. Zecilia' Shane in marriage. Ms. Zecilia's parents, who wanted to marry her off, were elated by this, and told Ms. Zecilia, that she had no say in the matter."
"But luckily enough, she had already fallen in love with Duke Ozyman. And while she wasn't happy with her parents' words, she had no good reason not to accept his proposal."
"And so they got married. Unfortunately, for many years they were unable to bear children."
"And so they received a lot of pressure from both of their parents, which put a heavy strain on their marriage, but they stuck together nonetheless."
"Until one day, they found out that Ms. Zecilia was pregnant. Everyone was happy with this news, all, but one person. That person was the older brother of the Duke, Michael."
"He accused Ms. Zecilia of being an adulterous woman. But everyone knew who Ms. Zecilia was and knew she would be the last person to ever betray someone's trust. And so the accusations fell on deaf ears."
"But Duke Ozyman was irate that his brother would even accuse Ms. Zecilia of such a thing and so asked his father to disown Michael. Which his father did."
"Michael had already caused much trouble for the two in the past and so this was the straw that broke the camel's back."
"A few months later, Angelina was born into this world. But even after having just given birth, Ms. Zecilia was already out of the house trying to help the locals, but all of them refused and told her to go home."
"And so Ms. Zecilia decided, she was going to put all time into taking care of Angel. Even when Angel was sound asleep, Ms. Zecilia would watch over her and would spend all her time just looking after Angel."
"As the years passed, and Angel grew older. Ms. Zecilia would go out and help out whoever she could."
"One day, she stumbled upon a boy, a boy who was thirsty for water. So she gave him some water and told him she would help in any way possible. And from then on, every day she would listen to the stories and complaints that the boy had to say. Little did she know that he would be the cause of her untimely demise."
"It turned out that the boy had conspired to murder the king and in his failed attempt, he looked for Ms. Zecilia for support."
"And during the many years that had passed, Michael had turned to a powerful family that opposed Ms. Zecilia's family in a political struggle and so he had gained some power in the royal court."
"And looking to deal a big blow to the Klein family, this family decided to accuse Ms. Zecilia of committing adultery with this boy."
"And with the evidence presented to him, Duke Ozyman fell apart and was also blinded by this allegation."
"And so the king ordered for Ms. Zecilia to be put to death for conspiring with the boy."
"Duke Ozyman, who had enough sway in the court to change the outcome decided to stand back and do nothing."
"When asked if the accusations were true, she simply replied 'Say what you will about me, but do not shame the boy!'"
"And so the day came where Ms. Zecilia would be put to death by hanging in front of the whole kingdom, her parents, her siblings, and most importantly her daughter."
"That day, the whole kingdom and anyone who knew Ms. Zecilia cried enough tears to flood the world."
"It was reported that her last words were 'My dear Angel, please forgive me for neglecting you.'"
"A year later, Michael, who had finally regained his position in the Wolfgang house, walked up to Duke Ozyman, and told him that the rumors of Ms. Zecilia's infidelity were all false."
"After that, the Duke tried to clear Ms. Zecilia's name and expose his brother, but was quickly dismissed due to lack of evidence."
"After some time he built this tomb, but he wasn't even allowed to etch her name on it."
"And that is why, to this day, the Duke cannot bring himself to forgive himself for not having faith in his wife." A tear started to roll down her cheek as she watched the Duke cry his heart out.
"Were you close to Ms. Zecilia?" I'm just guessing from how she looked while telling the story and from the way she talked about her.
"Somewhat, I looked up to her, she helped me out when I was having a hard time." She wiped away the single teardrop.
"And now, Angel thinks her mother abandoned her?"
"How did you know?" I look around for Angel, but can't find her anywhere.
"I'm good at understanding kids, I guess. Anyways, where is she?" She turns her head left and right trying to find her.
"Angel?" She calls out, but there was no answer.
The old man walked over to us "Have you seen Angelina?" I shake my head and then panic sets in on his face.
"Where could she have gone?"
"Doesn't she like, like to run off? She could've wandered off, but she's probably nearby." The old man just shook his head.
"No, she's never once wandered off while visiting her mother…"
"I'll go search around, Pandres, you try looking with the old man." I let go of her and start to look around.
'The cemetery is only one path and we were standing from where we came from. So it's only possible for her to go ahead.' As I walk ahead I spot her shoe on the ground.
"Shit!"
I walk along the path and find an old lady silently praying.
"My apologies for interrupting you, but have you seen a little girl, blonde, wearing a black dress, about yay height?" She looks at me with irritation and then thinks for a bit.
"Ah yes, she was leaving alongside a handsome young man, although she was throwing a fit and I believe the man was dragging her a bit too roughly."
This left me with little to no doubt that Angel had been kidnapped.