Entwined With the Villainous Guardian
Chapter 95: The Tower of Pebbles

Chapter 95: The Tower of Pebbles

"Sorry for interrupting. Please, continue. What was the fight about?" Lionel asked running his hand over the back of the cat. The cat stretched itself enjoying his caresses and curled on his lap.

Viviana cleared her throat. "Yeah, by now Darcia and Leona were friends for almost a year, right? They had beautiful time together doing what they enjoyed to do... They made the best of that two hours each day that they spent with each not trading those two hours for nothing else... But...Like any relationship, they started to have some disagreements."

"Mmm," Lionel hummed.

"Darcia didn’t think that she had changed but she could see that Leona was changing. She suddenly started to get so angry at her for no reason, right? She became so controlling and...possessive. Now, Darcia wanted friends. Lot of them, but Leona wanted to be the only friend and that’s where their clash started."

"Hmm, figures," Lionel laughed.

"What are you laughing about?" Viviana asked. She was so worried at that time to see these changes in Leona. But later she figured that maybe Leona acted that way because she was going through puberty and that affected her balance.

But Lionel seemed to be laughing mockingly. She did not like that.

"Nothing... It’s just... Did a boy try to get close to Darcia?" Lionel asked.

"Well, he was not trying to get close to her but he tried to annoy her a lot. But... How did you know it was a boy?" Viviana knitted her brows.

"Just guessing," Lionel shrugged. Then with a smile ruling his face, he leaned back on the chair with the cat still on his lap.

Viviana got alert as she feared that the cat might jump down at any minute.

"Who was the boy?" Lionel asked.

"Ah, yes," Viviana answered keeping an eye on the cat. "His name was Frederick, and he was her desk mate. For some reason, he teased Darcia a lot. He’d pull her hair, hide her pencil, try to lift her skirt, follow her everywhere—he’d just annoy her to bits. But he’d also bring her the snacks his mother cooked for him. He’d give her extra chocolates for his birthday. He’d say that he’s being generous by sharing and act as if he didn’t like to share, but he won’t let Darcia refuse. He even gave her his expensive pencil which he never shares with anyone else. Darcia talked to Leona about Frederick and Leona wanted to hurt Frederick because he was "not good "and she needs to be "protected"."

Lionel opened his eyes. "Ah... sweet first crush..." he smiled. His smile was so pure and so amused.

"Crush?" Viviana’s heart skipped a beat. "They were 7!"

That boy crushed on her? She never realized that. And they were seven! Who has a crush when they are seven years old?

Lionel raised his brows and smirked. "You do realize that’s how some boys show love, right? Some pull the pigtails of the girl, some try to hide the girl..." There was a glint at the corner of his round eyes as he concealed a lot of meaning behind his words.

"Lo-LOVE?" Viviana raised her voice as it was unbelievable.

"7 is not too young for a crush, Bellissima. I remember my first crush was my elementary school teacher. I was 5!" Lionel shrugged.

"Really?" Viviana’s voice was still high-pitched.

Was I the only one who never had a crush?

"You never wanted to marry someone when you were young?" Lionel asked.

"Well..." Viviana thought about it. "After watching a wedding, I did want to marry or at least have a mock wedding with my friend. But she didn’t want to play house with me."

Leona was mean like that at times. Leona would deny her and she would pout for the rest of the day. But she will forget about it the next day and act as usual.

Leona did change her mind one day.

"Ah, I forgot to tell you about the mock wedding Darcia and Leona had. It was right around the time the "pest" as Leona would mention—Frederick—would be around her. That day, Leona wanted to have a mock wedding. Leona even brought the veil left by one bride-to-be that she wore during her bachelorette party. They were on the beach and that day Leona wore a black dress to mimic a tux and Darcia wore her usual pale pink dress. And they got married on the beach..." Viviana laughed.

That was fun.

"The kiss at sunset..." Lionel said in deep contemplation.

Viviana didn’t want to talk about that further. She knew as a movie director Lionel must talk about how he would transfer it to film. But she didn’t think that grown adults talking about kids kissing would be appropriate.

It became a fond memory for her. It was a whole wedding ceremony. Leona was the Priest and the groom. She was the bride. She loved the bride with the beautiful white veil. Leona even made a makeshift ring using grass. And yes, there was a kiss that didn’t mean anything. Both were girls and what meaning would there be?

They were kids and she was more amused with the ceremony than the meaning behind it. She was happy, and Leona was happy. And they had a good time that day.

"Anyhow, in the cave, Darcia did not want Leona inside the water as it was already closer to sunset. They had to return. They don’t know what was in the water or how deep the well is. It’s dangerous. She wanted to stop Leona and she used the issue with Frederick to make Leona stop. Leana had told her that she will confront Frederick the next day. They had a little fight about it. And of course, Leona’s decision would be final. She acted as if she was the patriarch at times. So annoying..." Viviana laughed.

Lionel nodded.

"Standing by the shore of the well or pond or whatever that body of water was, Leona held Darcia by the shoulders. Looking right into her eyes, Leona told her that she wanted to make a wish. Picking a pebble at the side, Leona jumped into the water much to the anxiety of Darcia. Darcia couldn’t stop Leona and she waited by the shore, praying for Leona’s safety.

Leona swam there, the water was deeper than they thought, but Leona didn’t back off. She placed the pebble over the other pebbles, carefully not to shake them... Leona thought that any wish could be granted if they manage to place the pebble over the tower without toppling it. But as she placed it..."

Viviana took a deep breath.