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Unsurprisingly, Lydia’s pacing failed to diffuse her overwhelming anger. It didn’t change her current situation to just walk away from it, and it certainly didn’t make sense of any of it. If anything, each step only amplified the sheer rage, confusion and betrayal she felt. What alternate universe had Lydia landed wherein both Aurelia and Cassian stood by and let their youngest sibling be unwillingly married off? Well, if nobody else would step in, she would have to do it herself. When she stopped in her tracks, Lydia’s chest rose and fell with hurried, shallow breaths, and her fists clenched lay by her side. She couldn’t run away from this, and leave her mother to make further advances in this supposed wedding in her absence.
So after a moment of contemplation, Lydia willed herself to turn on her heel and direct her pacing with a new determination towards the Ellis estate, her thoughts filling with all the things she would say when she arrived. She hadn’t given her mind the space to feel a trace of sadness, to mourn the possible loss of her freedom and livelihood by marriage. It was something she couldn’t accept yet, and so forced into the depths of her mind and by the time Lydia reached the grand gates, she felt as though her anger alone could have forced them open.
It appeared the rest of her family had already arrived, the carriage at a halt outside the entrance. Lydia had good timing, then. She walked through the doors of the estate, the sharp click of her shoes echoing on the marble floor prompting an awaiting Aurelia to rise to her feet. Lydia couldn’t even look at her, let alone attempt to make sense of her right now. “There you are,” Her sister tried, but Lydia didn’t stop walking. “We expected you’d find departure with your betrothed soon, where… is he?” Though her words trailed off at the realisation that Lydia was not listening, and instead heading for the office, where she was correct to assume her mother to be.
“You cannot be serious,” Lydia began as soon as she set foot in the room, her voice bouncing off the walls of the once-silent office. She took a steadying breath, insistent on making clear her defiance to this absurdity. “You cannot force a marriage onto me against my wishes,” She stood tall, trying to embrace the courage in that as her adversary remained beneath her in a chair.
But when she made eye contact with her mother, Lydia faltered. She lost grasp on her control and began letting her frustration and desperation influence her words. “I know you to be impatient and controlling over my status, but do you truly think so little of my own will, of what I desire?” Lydia asked in disbelief, with a fear that she’d already answered her own question. “… That you would tether me to a life not of my choosing?” She continued, completely going off the script she had originally intended. “Why is it you take such haste in ridding yourself of me?” Lydia asked, her voice cracking with emotion and growing increasingly quieter.
Lydia closed her eyes, shaking this temporary lapse in control that wasn’t going to get her anywhere. “I will not comply with this,” She declared, her firm tone returning. “You could not force my hand even if you were to tie it down and wield every ounce of your power against me,” Lydia continued, with no trace of the plead that had crossed her face moments before. In that moment, she considered leaving the estate and never returning. But her mind went to her sister. As hurt as she was, Lydia was adamant that something had happened to Aurelia out of her control, and she couldn’t leave her. Looking at her mother, so calculating and controlling, she was certain now more than ever that it was something of her doing. “I am to find out whatever it is you have done to Aurelia, and then we are leaving this place,” Lydia proclaimed, her gaze filled with an intensity that left no room for uncertainty.
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@benitz786 Ellis