Page 12 of The Last De Loughrey Dynasty

At least this was half the truth. Or the truth I believed.

“Or maybe I was just a stain on the family name.”

I hadn’t intended on saying this. Before I could stop myself, the words had already left my mouth.

Archer sat up straight, his face betraying no emotion, as he said, “I guess, after all, you’re not as special as I thought, Dorothee De Loughrey. You’re just like us.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

DOROTHEE

After lunch,I had the day off. I was told to pick an activity by the end of the week. I was allowed to try out each for a few weeks before deciding which I would dedicate myself to for the next two years of my life. But I had to start somewhere. Maisie had recommended badminton since she and most of the other girls played, but I wasn’t particularly interested in that sport. Maybe I’d decide on archery. It sounded quite interesting, and I vaguely remembered wanting to be like Robin Hood as a child after my grandmother read me his story.

I decided to spend my spare time in the library until it closed. This room was by far the most impressive in the entire building. The books were neatly arranged on shelves that reached the ceiling. I couldn’t imagine how many books must be here, and counting wouldn’t get me anywhere. How many books were sorted onto a shelf depended on their thickness, and some were even stacked on tables. Not being able to count them irritated me.

Counting numbers was easy because they made sense. They were everything my mind wasn’t, and when I had nothing to count, I feared I might lose myself in the non-existent structureof my existence. But that was an irrational fear that I shouldn’t dwell on too much.

I sat at the far back of the library, where no other students were either quietly laughing or studying, and placed my laptop on the table.

Without a moment’s hesitation, I searched the name Lessy alongside the name of the school, Aquila Hall. Only pictures of the school appeared, with Lessy not being mentioned.

I tried again with the search:Aquila Hall festivals.

I was directed to the school’s website, where all festivals were listed, and I tried to remember if it had been cold or warm in my dream. Lessy had worn a summer dress, and even though the air was somewhat chilly, it didn’t seem like she’d needed a jacket. The boy I’d also seen—Christopher—hadn’t been wearing one either, only a shirt.

So, it must have been either spring or the beginning of autumn.

Since we are aware that most children won’t be able to join their families for the holidays, we are eager to bring all the festivals here to Aquila Hall Academy.

Read the header of the website. I scrolled down to see the list of festivals that areeagerlycelebrated here.

– New Year’s Day

– Good Friday

– Easter Monday

– May Day

The ribbons. The dress. The flowers. It had to be May Day.

I opened a new tab and typed inAquila Hall, May Day.Clicking on images, I broke out into a cold sweat. The first two pictures were of trees decorated with white ribbons.

Maybe it wasn’t just a nightmare… but that’s not possible.

I scrolled further, and more pictures of decorations on the school building appeared. Flowers were everywhere, wrapped around the railing of the stairs. Girls ran around with flower crowns on their heads… balconies were decorated with roses.

White roses.

My heart jackhammered in my chest, and my palms started to sweat.

This couldn’t be just a dream I’d created from imagination. I’ve never celebrated May Day all in white. For me, it was always a colourful day. I couldn’t have known…

More pictures showed girls in white gowns and dresses and boys in black and white suits, some even in jeans, but all wearing white shirts.

And then I saw him.

It was a picture of a group of friends, and on the far right stood the boy I could identify as Christopher. He had his arm wrapped around a girl with two brown braids held together by white ribbons.

---