Chapter fifty-four: "Crest"

"Angel"

"Hm?"

"Do you wanna go somewhere with me after I tucked Benji in bed?"

Going somewhere with Cloud past 10? Sounds good to me

Cloud wasn't loyally following his sleeping schedule after we started college together not like back in high school that when the clock strikes ten we need to sleep to match his body's sleeping schedule

"So after your plane flew I met Danny by chance at the airport at the same time"

Cloud's eyes widened and immediately turned his head to face me and returned to look at the road "Did she say anything to you? Anything misleading?"

"If she says anything about me talking to her I swear on my sister's grave that I stopped any type of communication with Danny" his voice was in a hurry trying to make sure I don't get the wrong idea

I giggled with the corner of my lips upturned "Don't be too shocked but...she apologized to me"

Cloud didn't seem convinced "Did she? How weird I thought she would act the way"

"I thought so too but she even explained why she acted like such a bitch before" I slapped my hand to cover my mouth then glanced to the back seat to check if Benji was listening

He saw my reaction and chuckled deeply "Don't worry, that little guy right there knows quite a lot of sailor words for his age"

That sounded so familiar, Benji was like me when I was his age. I am well known in the family as the person who knows curse words and says them like it was good manners

Even Cloud couldn't handle the colorful and imaginative curse words that I could come up with within the second

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58 minutes after the long ride we finally arrive at the Marshall Palace or Marshall Manor which Cloud casually calls it like it wasn't a palace to him

The last time I visited the Marshall Manor was when Sophia need me and my sisters for inspiration for her new clothing line and that was in the morning, this time I was gonna visit the manor during the night

Beautiful Victorian designed streetlights lit up the pathway that leads up to the grand double door entryways of the manor that was carved with two lions near the huge door handles

"I have been wondering, was the manor inherited, or was it designed to look like it came from the ancient times?"

He parked the car in the front of the entrance of the manor and then whipped out to carry Benji to his bedroom, I followed the two inside and my jaw dropped once I saw what the manor would look like at nighttime from the inside

Giant chandeliers hung up high in the ceilings that lined up in the hallways, marbles floors that were newly waxed by the maids that shined when light hits them, and somehow I tend to notice that there were quite a lot of Lion statues that are scattered around the manor

Some in the garden, the ballroom, and even the grand stairs

"What's up with lions in this manor? Are lions the favorite animal here?" I joked as I saw a lion cub statue near Benji's door

Once I helped Cloud by opening the door to Benji's room and he sets him down he then said "It signifies dignity and pride, our ancestors took quite a liking to those animals"

"It seems they like them a bit too much" I giggled

He sat down and tucked sleepy Benji in bed, Cloud glanced at me then pointed his index finger at something behind me. I was confused at first but after I twisted my head there hung a family crest

"Fides nostra superbia est et familia nostra" (Loyalty is our pride and so is our family) I read the motto written under the family crest in Latin

I snorted "It's quite funny that a group of Lions is called a pride so this motto made a pun too"

"Mom told us that our ancestor used to be a horse keeper and because of his deep loyalty to the royal family for decades he was given a noble title"

The tips of my fingers traced the crest that was carved on the finest oak wood "I never knew that the Marshalls were from nobility...but what on earth is with the obsession with lions?"

He shrugged "Dunno about that but what I do know is that it is a tradition that every member of the family has to have a statue of a lion in front of their bedroom"

I checked the cub again at the side of Benji's bedroom front door "This one is so cute"

Cloud walked up to me and glanced at the bronze statue "If the family member is a child it is only common sense that the statue should be a cub, once he becomes a teen then we would switch it with a full-grown lion"

He held my hand and closed Benji's bedroom door before leading me somewhere down the hallway with many doors the main one being huge

"If it is the husband and wife then there should be two lions at the front of the bedroom doors," he said to me and showed the front of his parents' lion statues at the front of their bedroom

Will me and Cloud have lion statues like these someday?

After that, he brought me somewhere again from within the manor but this time it was usually far from all the other rooms. The atmosphere of the hallway that we entered was calm and a bit gloomy

It took a while to realize that the double doors at the end of the hallway were filled with flowers at the door frame with white ribbons hanging on the two doorknobs

There stood a cub statue with a little flower crown that looks like it was just freshly made from the garden

He held my hand tightly "This is her room"

"You mean your sister?"

He nodded with his eyes glued to the door
Within his eyes showed longing and sadness

"Do you wanna go in?"

With his head low, he nodded. I pulled his hand so we could get closer to the door

Cloud took a deep sigh and glanced at me, I returned his gaze with a reassuring nod that I am here with him

His hand formed a first and knocked at the door "Hey Meghan, it's me..." he wasn't sure what to say until he looked at me again

"I brought my girlfriend, her name is Penelope and I want you to meet her. Please don't mind if we enter your room alright?" his hand was shaking a bit when he tried to touch the doorknob

I gently held his other hand and led it to hold the doorknob, my thumb caressed the back of his hand to calm him down

"I'm here, don't worry" I whisper to his ear

He closed his eyes and opened the door, there I saw a room that was filled with flowers. A princess bed is still clean and not a speck of dirt can be found in this room without an owner

Toy dolls and teddy bears were all lined up on the shelves neatly, in the middle of the room was a mess of dolls on the floor near a dollhouse. I slowly walked up to the mess "Did the maids forget to clean these up?"

Cloud looks up from a picture frame he was holding to look at the mess, a small smile forming on his lips "That was the last mess she made before the accident, Mom and my brothers agreed to tell the maids to not move them in place. To make it seem like she was still here"

The picture he held was a clear picture of Meghan, she was adorable

The signature meadow eyes that Sophia has and short light brown hair that compliments her cute cheeks that showed her dimples

"She looks adorable," I said truthfully

He snorted "If you call me egotistical then you should've met her, she was the personified meaning of egotistical. Compliment her and she'll reply with "I know" with her nose held high"

"Sounds like a handful to be with her"

"She was but it was better than not having anything to hold to make it feel full"