My Fiancé's Scandals Never End, So I Married His Uncle Instead-Chapter 105: A Suspected Homecoming
The sports car, escorted by bodyguards, headed toward the villa in Blackwater Creek.
Celia Sterling was driving while Kian Sterling sat in the passenger seat with a languid expression. He wore the crimson, cloud-patterned, low V-neck shirt Celia had bought for him, and a matching men’s double-star necklace glittered on his collarbone.
"Brother, what were you doing last night? You were busy all night."
"Nothing much. Just gave them a little warning." Kian Sterling answered casually, not mentioning that he had mobilized his people in Port Sovereign to aggressively confront the other party. "The Sutton Family is trouble. From now on, when you come to Port Sovereign, you must have someone with you. Either me or Silas Norwood will do."
Celia Sterling nodded obediently. "Okay."
「Half an hour later, they arrived at the villa district.」
It was a villa that looked a few decades old, with a traditional design nestled among gardens. It wasn’t particularly large—at least, not compared to the Sterling Family’s villa in Metropia—but it had an overall comfortable and pleasant feel.
"When did you buy this, Brother? It looks like the architectural style of Port Sovereign from twenty or thirty years ago." Celia Sterling got out of the car, looking around curiously. "The scenery is beautiful, and it feels... familiar, in a way I can’t quite describe."
Kian Sterling’s gaze fell on her. After a pause, he said in a low voice, "Let’s go inside."
There were a housekeeper and servants inside the villa.
The housekeeper had been notified in advance and was waiting respectfully at the door with a group of servants. Upon seeing Kian Sterling, she stepped forward to greet him.
"Mr. Sterling, you’re back."
Then she looked at Celia Sterling beside him and paused, slightly startled. "Is this... Mr. Sterling’s wife?"
It was no wonder she thought so. She had managed the villa for over a decade, and while Kian Sterling frequently came to Port Sovereign, he rarely visited this place. Even when he did, he never brought a woman with him. Plus, the two of them had an air of seamless chemistry that could easily give someone the wrong idea.
"Hello, Housekeeper. I’m Celia Sterling." Celia Sterling smiled and pointed at Kian Sterling. "This is my brother. My actual brother."
"Oh, so it’s the young miss! My apologies, my old eyes are failing me. I made a mistake." The housekeeper apologized profusely and then took the lead to guide them. "A few days ago, Assistant Rhodes sent someone to pick up some wine, which is how I knew Mr. Sterling had arrived in Port Sovereign. I wasn’t sure if you would be staying, but the rooms are all prepared. Miss Sterling, what style do you prefer? I can have someone arrange the bedding for you right away..."
"That won’t be necessary. We’re leaving this afternoon; we just came to have a look around." Celia Sterling followed the housekeeper into the villa, glanced around the garden and terrace, then turned to Kian Sterling. "Brother, you must have something to do here at the villa, right? You go ahead and get busy. I’ll walk around with the housekeeper."
Kian Sterling gave a soft hum of acknowledgment. He quietly instructed the housekeeper to take good care of the young miss, then went to the study himself.
The housekeeper first led Celia Sterling on a tour around the exterior of the villa. "The garden is Mr. Sterling’s favorite place to be. He loves irises, so he’s planted them season after season. Miss Sterling, do you see that swing set? Every time Mr. Sterling comes, he likes to sit on the lounge chair by the swing to drink tea and read..."
Celia Sterling followed the housekeeper’s introduction with her eyes. The waist-high irises grew in a dense thicket. Their purple-and-white blossoms were not the vibrant, fiery style Kian Sterling usually preferred, but they possessed a serene and tranquil beauty. At the far end of the irises stood a weathered white swing set that looked quite old. Pink roses climbed its frame, while bright yellow sunflowers, deep purple lavender, and blue hydrangeas grew in tangled clusters, surrounding the swing and creating a dreamlike, private corner.
The lounge chair next to the swing set was nestled within the brocade-like mounds of flowers. A small, yellow-and-white cat was lying on it, sunbathing with its eyes closed.
Celia Sterling’s leisurely pace gradually slowed, and the smile on her face slowly faded into a daze.
It was clearly her first time here, yet it was as if she had seen this exact scene many times in her dreams: the sea of irises, the rose-covered swing, the lazy yellow-and-white cat, and...
The housekeeper’s voice continued beside her. "The swing has been repaired several times. That cat is new, too; we just got it last month. The previous one passed away from old age. Mr. Sterling seems to have a particular fondness for this look. Every time he gets a new cat, he requests one with this same yellow-and-white pattern. And every cat inherits the same name: ..."
"Dodo." Celia Sterling’s gaze was fixed on the little cat. ’A hazy image of a little girl appeared in her mind. She was wearing a princess dress, and a small cat was playing on her lap. In a sweet, childish voice, the girl giggled and cried, "Dodo, don’t be naughty. Be a good kitty, Dodo."’
A sudden, disorienting feeling of being lost in time washed over her.
"Yes, Dodo." The housekeeper nodded, assuming Kian Sterling must have mentioned it to her, so she didn’t think much of it. "A little further ahead, Miss, do you see that big glass house? That’s—"
"The Perfumery Lab." Celia Sterling interrupted softly. "That’s The Perfumery Lab."
"Correct. It used to be The Perfumery Lab." The housekeeper gave her a surprised look. "Mr. Sterling must have told you about it, right? But that lab hasn’t been used for almost twenty years. It was already abandoned when I started working here. I suggested to Mr. Sterling a few times that we convert it into a greenhouse, but he wouldn’t allow it."
Celia Sterling said nothing.
She walked step by step into the depths of the garden and saw the beautiful Perfumery Lab at the far end. Inside the custom-built glass house was a vast laboratory. Shelves were lined with all sorts of bottles and jars, along with various perfume-making instruments. They were well-protected, but they weren’t the popular tools used in modern perfumery; they were more traditional, older items.
’Another faint, blurry image surfaced in her mind. In it, the same little girl who had been playing with the cat was perched obediently on a high stool, playing with various exquisite bottles and jars at a workbench. Behind her, a very gentle female voice was saying softly, "Cece, Mommy’s going to test you. Can you tell me what scent is in this bottle?"’
’A little girl’s sweet voice piped up. "This one is rose! And that bottle is bergamot! And this one, this one is amber..."’
’"You’re amazing, Cece!"’
’In the hazy scene, a woman in a loose-fitting lab coat gently lifted the girl from behind. The image grew blurrier and blurrier. No matter how hard Celia Sterling tried to focus, she couldn’t make out the woman’s face.’
But her heart felt utterly empty.
Seeing that Celia Sterling’s mood was off, the housekeeper spoke up immediately. The girl whose eyes had been bright and whose smile had been radiant just moments before now had a dim gaze and a vacant expression, as if caught in a trance, her spirit seemingly gone. She quickly asked:
"Perhaps you don’t like the environment out here? Shall I take you for a tour inside the villa, Miss Sterling?"
Celia Sterling let out a low hum and followed the housekeeper away from that familiar yet strange place. Her mind gradually began to clear.
As she walked away on the cobblestone path leading back to the villa, she glanced back one last time. The sea of flowers was like a brocade, the swing swayed gently, and a corner of The Perfumery Lab was still visible. Though the view was exquisitely beautiful, looking at it made her feel an inexplicable sadness.
"I probably didn’t sleep well last night. Housekeeper, do you have any refreshing tea? Please prepare a cup for me later." Celia Sterling suppressed her gloomy feelings and mustered her spirits as she stepped into the villa’s main hall.
But in a corner of the hall, she saw an equally old, pink, moon-shaped piano.
It was as if fireworks had exploded in her mind.
Memories that had lain dormant in time sharpened from a blur into focus. An image drifted before her eyes: the little girl sitting at the piano. And next to the girl sat a bewitchingly handsome young boy.
It was Kian Sterling, as a boy.
