"There you are!" in the calmest and kindest of voices, Edgar greeted Arabella the instant he laid eyes on her, "And here I'd started to think I wouldn't be seeing you today,"
With a radiant smile, Arabella stood in place, still clutching at her gown, "Oh, I decided to stop by the music room for a bit. It was quite phenomenal,"
"Well, if you say so then I must take your word for it," he tilted his head a bit to the side, "I've never visited the music room,"
Arabella watched as Edgar continued to dig little holes in the dirt before planting the seeds at their hearts and covering them in the end.
Such a soothing and satisfying process it was that the young woman wished to stay and admire his work for as long as it lasted.
"Are you not allowed in the music room?" in a subdued tone, she asked, her smile dimming a little.
"No!" Edgar stopped his doings to look up at Arabella and spoke in a reassuring note, "Lady Persephone prohibits no soul living under her roof from exploring the manor, provided that they do their jobs, of course," he paused to offer a brighter smile, "I simply meant, I've never had any business in the music room and thus never saw the need to find it, but perhaps if you invite me…," Edgar had half asked and half suggested.
Arabella's cheeks hadn't fully returned to their natural color yet. They still held a tinge of red from the intense blushing they did minutes prior to her arrival in the gardens.
The unexpectedly artful look and tone he'd used made her heart flutter as it pumped more blood than it usually did within the same span of time which did not help cool down her face.
"Is Everything alright with you?" eyebrows a tad furrowed, he waited for an answer while seemingly studying her face.
"Uh… Yes!" her voice had gone so thin and weak that her words practically became squeaks, "I am alright," she cleared her throat.
"If my words made you uncomfortable in any sort of way I-"
Edgar began but Arabella immediately cut him off, "No! No!" she waved her hands in front of herself, "Please don't think that for a moment," smiling faintly, she slowly shook her head no towards the end of her sentence.
Upon clearing her throat once more, Arabella sought to turn topics, "Is this the plant you told me about this morning?"
Looking back down at the packet of seeds by his foot, Edgar nodded, "Yes. The Lady has personally requested them," he started to dig a new hole, "Gravepines,"
"Gravepines?" Arabella had muttered the question before thinking her words over.
"Despite coming from Lustris myself, I've never handled them before. They are most common there as humans have found more use in them," he explained without taking his eyes off his work.
"Yes," she gave a nervous chuckle, "I suppose that is why I was a bit surprised to hear its name,"
Understandably so, since Lustrisians had adopted the custom of planting a young and alive branch from a gravepine tree by the graves of the newly deceased, only for it to grow and blossom with time.
"The Lady has consecrated a piece of land to the human servants," he made a pause before adding, "For those of us who'd leave this world on the grounds. If the body is unclaimed then it is buried alongside the others on the dedicated space of the property, and she very much likes to follow our rites and customs, to sort of make us feel at home," the last words sounded a little as though they clung to his throat until he forced them out.
"Fascinating, really," gaze down on the dirt, Arabella smiled meekly, "The more I learn about her, the more I admire the Lady,"
"I could never agree more," he chuckled lightly, "I don't know where and what else I'd be doing if she hadn't given me a chance,"
Picking at her own nails, she rummaged through her mind for the right words until some seemed appropriate, "Edgar…," she trailed off momentarily, only carrying on upon capturing his attention, "May I ask you a bit of a personal question?" she spoke with a little voice.
"Yes, you may," he agreed but his hesitant tone said otherwise.
Nevertheless, Arabella took the chance to ask, "Were you… In a difficult position when you arrived at the manor?"
Edgar had this dubious look on him that prompted Arabella to elaborate and elongate her sentence, "I mean, you did say you came here years ago, and you only had good things to say about life in Umbraria, I simply wondered…," she failed to find an end to it.
In response, a composed and yet hearty laugh escaped him, "You don't need to worry about offending me as very little offends me, really," he covered a hole before digging a new one, "I arrived six years ago. Back then, I wasn't much of a gardener. In fact, I… Wasn't much of anything and I pretty much had nothing to my name. Despite the circumstances, being sent here was the best thing that has ever happened to me, to this day,"
"You were sent here?"
Once again Arabella had uttered the words without much consideration.
"Well, that is as far as I am willing to share," he smiled.
"Of course," Arabella immediately nodded.
"I'd only add that, it would be an honor for me to be buried on the Eleazar property," he stated in a clear and steady voice, not a hint of reluctance.
A chill ran down Arabella's spine upon hearing him talk about death, his own death with such… Insularity. Then again, how was he to talk about it?
"Would you accompany me to the back entrance of the property?" he wrenched her out of her contemplation.
"Yes!" she chirped.
Edgar stood up and pulled the dirty gardening gloves off before placing them by the bed of dirt he'd been working on.
He took a cleaner pair from the pocket of the thick apron covering his front side then slipped his hands inside.
"It is time for the manure delivery to arrive," he said as Arabella trailed behind him.
The two of them walked for a good while which served as another proof of the sheer size of the place.
Finally, Arabella turned a corner after Edgar only for her eyes to widen.
So many men went and came from the many large and wooden carriages then through the back door of the manor, carrying lavish sorts of chairs inside.
They mostly worked in silence until a man, that was dressed in a much nicer fit than the rest, began to holler at them to move faster and focus on their task when some of the men's heads snapped in Arabella's direction.
Arabella's sight then drifted towards the tall and slender gargoyles posted on each side of the staircases leading up that were more apparent in daylight.
"It has arrived," Edgar turned to Arabella, "This way,"
She followed him to the smaller carriage sitting at a corner, out of the worker's way. Stacked neatly upon each other were a number of fairly large sacks that contained what Arabella assumed was the manure Edgar had mentioned.
"Do you need help with the bags?" she asked the moment Edgar picked one of the bags.
"I'd prefer it if you didn't with this task," he smiled, "I'd be blamed for any scratch you'd sustain whether the vampires can help you heal within ten days or otherwise,"
"Oh… In that case…," Arabella nodded.
"Besides, I've already gotten all I need for today," he lifted the bag a little higher to bring her attention on it, "The rest can wait here,"
As the pair started to head back towards the gardens, about ten fancier carriages made their appearance in the rear side of the manor, the wincing of the wheels as well as the clip-clopping of hooves becoming more audible the closer they drew.
All carriages with no exception bore the Eleazar family crest, but on the luxurious ones the emblem was more pronounced.
"Music orchestras for the upcoming ceremony, I reckon," Edgar's voice grabbed Arabella's attention away from those majestic horses pulling the cars, "Since the guests prefer to hire day walkers for the task, these were bound to arrive sometime during the day,"
"I suppose, yes," she muttered, "Business between our kids can be quite inconvenient,"
Arabella spoke from experience. Well, based on her father's experience who often dealt business with all kinds of nightwalkers, but mainly vampires. They always came in at night and her father had to stay awake past his usual working hours to accommodate them.
"Well, luckily the Eleazars never have to worry about that as Master Silas can always handle any daytime business,"
Arabella's heart skipped a beat upon lying eyes on Silas. The vampire exited the manor and went to stand some distance away from where the first carriage in line had stopped, clearly there to greet them.
Stunning as per his usual, the sun only emphasized his allure, its spectral colors scattered through the diamonds that served him as eyes.