A MAZE OF GREED

Thea reached 'the great manor', dressed in a nice yellow dress with a little touch of make-up. Rees met her at the entrance, and as they walked inside, he leaned down to murmur compliments in her ear that made her blush.

She had brought their wedding cards with her. Thea was a little nervous as they walked to meet Lord Augustus and Theodora first. She had never encountered both of them and had heard many things about them from Rees and Ruth.

"Do not worry and let me do all the talking. Okay?" Rees assured her.

Thea nodded her head. She was surprised to see Fannie standing beside Theodora. Thea wondered if she was fine now, but did not ask her anything.

"My Lord, My Lady!" Rees bowed in respect, drawing the couple's attention.

Thea also bowed along with Rees. The moment her eyes met Theodora's hazel ones, she shifted her weight uncomfortably on her other foot.

"Rees?" She said.

Augustus watched at the two with his grey eyes with avoiding the face.

"This is my fiancee, Thea Green!" Rees introduced with a proud smile.

"It is pleasure meeting you My Lord, My Lady!" Thea courtesied again as politely as she could.

She felt Fannie's glare at the side of her face, but she ignored it and maintained a calm composure. She did not want to embarrass herself and Rees in front of them.

Theodora gave a scrutinising look to Thea from top to bottom and gave a curt nod in response. That woman oozed confidence and arrogance, neither of them was Thea's favourites when they were related to the wrong person.

"We are here to invite you both in our wedding." Rees bowed again while offering their wedding card.

Augustus took it from him and scanned the words written on the white card with colourful inks.

Theodora smiled out of her pretence. "Congratulations Rees! You have got a beautiful lady."

Thea could tell how fake her smile and words were. But maybe that was how all the nobles behaved, so she let it slide for now.

"Congratulations and our blessings are with you two!" Augustus finally said.

"Thank you, My Lady, My Lord! We would like to take our leave now." Rees caught Thea by surprise. But she masked it quickly, and two minutes later, they were out of the room.

"Rees... we did not wait for their answer. Are they coming to our wedding?" Thea asked, trying to match his fast pace.

"We do not need their answer, Thea. They are not coming."

"What? Then why we invited them?"

"That was only a formality. Forget about it. I do not want them to attend our wedding either." He grumbled under his breath, that Thea failed to hear.

Rees took her to Edwin's office, where everyone was huddled together, waiting for the bride and the groom. Surprisingly, Elsie had made sure that Ruth and Ida were also there.

As soon as rees and Thea entered Edwin's office, Thea rushed to Ruth. The smile that lit up on Ruth's face was something Edwin wanted to see every day and every minute of it. But he also wanted to be the reason behind it. Alas!

"Good afternoon Lady Elsie, Lord Lester!" Rees bowed, then turned to his master, and greeted him as well.

"We are waiting for our invitation here Miss Green." Lester smiled at Thea.

Thea stepped ahead and gave one card to Edwin, then turned to Lester and smiled mischievously.

"Is it fine, if I give you both one card or do you want separate cards, My Lord?!"

Elsie choked on her spit, her face flushed in red as she avoided looking at everyone, especially her elder cousin, who was looking tenderly at her.

Ruth could never get used to this sweet side of his. It was like he had that only for Elsie and no one else.

"Well... I do not mind one card, Miss Green." Lester decided to play along and took a card from Thea.

Everyone laughed when Elsie mock glared at Lester, to which he only shrugged innocently in response.

Thea then gave the wedding card to Ida that made the woman's eyes widen in surprise.

"Miss Green..."

"I need one more bridesmaid." Thea smiled genuinely.

Ida was not sure. She was a recent addition to the group. In fact, she was surprised to see how Thea was comfortable around Lord Lester and even in front of Young Master.

She looked at Edwin through the corner of her eyes- the action that did not go unnoticed by Ruth, who stood beside her.

Edwin's face did not give away anything, the previous tender look on his face had disappeared by now. He only nodded once that brought a smile to Ida's face.

"Now you do not need!" She took the card and hugged Thea wishing her congratulations.

"So how are the preparations going Thea? Do you need any help with them?" Elsie asked after everyone settled down.

Thea gave a short brief on the preparations and thanked Elsie for offering help.

"So one more goat is ready for butchering, right Edwin?!" Lester was in a mood for teasing today.

Thea frowned as Rees laughed sheepishly. "I hope you will soon join my group, Lord Lester!"

"Oh, I am dying for that!" Lester put his hand on the chest and sighed dreamily, looking at Elsie.

Ruth could not help but laugh along with everyone. After days, she was seeing everyone in a light mood. But for some reason, she could not move from the fact that the blue-eyed monster did not join their light-hearted conversation.

He was present there physically, but his mind was somewhere else.

"Thea, you must be nervous about your new life, right?" Elsie tried changing the topic.

She had no friends, and with the lifespan of werewolves, the last wedding she had attended was a faded memory. She wanted to know how Thea felt as she was sure soon there would be a day when she would go through the same.

Smiling at Rees, Thea answered. "I am not going to lie. Yes, I am nervous. But with Rees, I think I will do just fine!"

She and Rees looked at each other with love-filled eyes. The sight was so adorable that the onlookers did not dare to interrupt the silent conversation between them. They only watched the two lovebirds with bright smiles.

Edwin's eyes moved towards Ruth to see her smiling ear to ear. Her eyes held a dreamy look as if she was watching the romance of Romeo and Juliet. Edwin could hear how rhythmically her heart beat, and he wondered was she imagining herself like that?

Then he remembered his last conversation with Mrs Payne. That made him tear his gaze away from Ruth's smiling face. Something about that woman's words was unsettling. He could tell that she knew much more, things that he did not know or, he could not imagine, but he was also sure that she would not tell him those things easily.

The woman in front of him, his mate was a beautiful mystery that he wanted to solve yet did not want to touch it in fear of staining it.

Clearing his throat, Edwin demanded everyone's attention.

"Rees, you are granted leave for the rest of the days. You need to help your family in the wedding preparations. And you can extend the leave and take Miss Green somewhere nice after the wedding."

Everybody gawked at him as if he had grown two heads. Edwin was very much aware of their reaction and understood why it was. He was not the kind of person who would think about such small details.

Feelings, emotions, relationships, responsibilities were never his forte. But he was very much satisfied with Rees's loyalty. All these years, he had seen him grow from a teenager to a young man, and now that he was beginning a new chapter of his life, Edwin wanted him to enjoy it.

"But... Master... the work..." Rees began.

"Yes, Master. I do not mind if he joins the work immediately. We-"

"I have already arranged a three days' trip to south for both of you. It is your wedding gift from me. I will not be able to give you anything as Edwin O'Dell in your wedding. That is why I decided to give it to you now." He said calmly.

Ruth was still looking at him dumbfoundedly. Was he the same blue-eyed monster who she thought was a heartless mountain of rock? What changed him all of a sudden?

Rees looked at Lester and saw him nodding his head with a smile.

~"Do not worry about the Garfields. We will handle it till you come back from your honeymoon. You just enjoy it!"~

Rees's chest filled with gratitude. He had never expected such respect and care from his masters.

"Thank you, Master! We are grateful!" He bowed at Edwin.

"Thank you very much, Master!" Thea also followed her fiancee.

"Lester", Elsie whispered.

"huh?"

She signalled him something with her eyes that he first did not catch, then realising it, he nodded in understanding.

"Ida!"

Ida obediently took something covered with a shiny cloth. Taking it from her hands, Lester gave it to Elsie.

"Rees, Thea as we can not come with our true identities for your wedding, we thought giving you your wedding gift now. We hope you like it!" Elsie smiled and, removing the cloth, revealed a velvety box.

Thea hesitated at first, then slowly took it. She opened it, and her jaw hit the ground. Ruth, Ida and Rees shared her shock at the sight of a beautiful diamond necklace and gold cufflinks.

The untraditional design had a touch of modernity. Its simple yet elegant design was so beautiful that Thea fell in love with it at the first sight.

"I think Thea does not like it. Yes, Lester?" Elsie teased.

"No... no... no... This is gorgeous, My lady. Oh my God! Rees look at it!" Thea chirped excitedly, making everyone laugh at her.

As everyone was busy admiring the beautiful piece of jewellery, Edwin was busy admiring another beauty that could beat it without effort!