Now, there was only one day till the ball. One day till she had to face this massive secret her grandmother was keeping from her. Akira dressed very simply today, only a plain dress and very little make-up - enough to cover the faint shading that hung under her eyes. It seemed that since she had that call with Bilal yesterday, all different kinds of possibilities had been haunting her from all directions and the little sleep she did have was very, very broken.

Akira perked up as she heard faint footsteps growing louder. Apparently, Grandmother wanted to see her today and speak to her about something important. Akira shoved aside the doubt gnawing at her brain. No matter how detached her grandmother seemed, there was no possible way she would do something like this. There could be no possible way that she would want to murder her own son.

Just as she came to that slightly reassuring conclusion, Grandmother arrived with the usual fanfare and elegant style as if there was a whole room of guests waiting, not just her sleep-deprived granddaughter.

"Good afternoon, Grandmother", Akira said with a half-arsed smile. "The weather is simply lovely today". The weather was not beautiful. In fact, it was typical English weather with heavy, grey, overcast skies but Akira could not help but feel a little petty towards the women who seemed hell-bent on hiding all these secrets from her.

Grandmother looked at Akira with a shrewd look before taking a seat opposite. Her hair was done up in a tight chignon which pulled at her features and made her face look sharper than usual.

"Enough of the fake pleasantries, I called you here to talk - not to dilly-dally", Grandmother responded a little harshly.

Akira looked at her, a little bit surprised. The pleasantries were fake, of course, but she was not expecting Grandmother to pick her out on them. It seemed Grandmother was in an unusually ratty mood today and that gave Akira a vicious sense of satisfaction.

"Is something the matter, Grandmother?" She asked, somewhat intrigued about the reason for her grandmother's snappy mood. "You look rather... worried".

"The ball is tomorrow, of course, I am worried. I am expecting you not to embarrass me, Akira", Grandmother replied.

"Of course not-"

"No, listen to what I am about to say", Grandmother said, enunciating every word. "You do one thing to undermine me, even by making one small mistake, you are out. I will remove you from my house and see that the rest of your life is exceedingly uncomfortable. Do you understand me?"

"I think you forget, Grandmother. I also carry the Astley name and my own reputation. There is no need to see so low of me", Akira responded, somewhat hurt. She was every bit an Astley as her grandmother was even if her grandmother took every chance to remind her otherwise.

"Good. Remember, I have eyes and ears everywhere. I will know what you will do before you do it", Grandmother threatened.

Akira clenched her fists under the table. Grandmother had given up pretending to be nice and was now outrightly threatening her. It definitely confirmed her suspicions though about how that all the staff reported back to her grandmother about her. That also meant she couldn't trust anyone, not even her personal maid, Jane.

"Now, onto the ball. Since the ball is thrown in your honour, you are to arrive last, via the main staircase into the ballroom. I expect you to greet me first and then mingle with guests and you must greet everyone in the room. The blue dress was a good choice, by the way", Grandmother added with a smirk.

God, she was right. She was being spied on. Her maid was the only one who knew what dress she was to wear which meant her maid was reporting back to her grandmother. Did she truly have any privacy, even in her own room? Were there cameras in her room? Akira felt a strong sense of gratitude towards Bilal for thinking about the burner phones. If she didn't have those, then she would really and truly be screwed.

"Thank you", Akira said without missing a beat. "I thought so as well. If that is all-"

"Tomorrow, some very important guests will be coming", Grandmother said, taking a deep sip of her tea. Her brows furrowed as she looked at Akira. Grandmother looked, dare Akira say, very stressed which was very odd for a woman who hardly showed any emotion. Who exactly were these important guests to cause this stress?

"And...?" Akira questioned, pressing for more.

Grandmother was silent for a minute as if thinking what to say.

"Those guests are more important than any other that will attend tomorrow", Grandmother said reluctantly. "I will be with them mostly so you will know who they are when you see them".

"Why can't you just tell me who they are?" Akira asked, puzzled. "Madam Matilda told me I should already know every guest that will attend-"

"No", Grandmother interrupted. "You will see them tomorrow. You don't need to know anything about them for now".

"Well, if I have to converse with them, what do I talk about?"

Akira stared at Grandmother who was deep in thought. There was definitely something fishy going on. Madam Matilda had made her memorise a list of people who were coming and their family histories and likes so when Akira was to talk to them, she would always have something to talk about and she wouldn't embarrass herself. Why was Grandmother being so secretive? Wouldn't knowing those important guests only benefit Grandmother?

"I'll lead the conversation", Grandmother finally said.

Akira resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Why can't I know who these guests are? Why are you acting so... strange?" She scowled at Grandmother, hoping to bait her into revealing something.

"You can't and that is final!" Grandmother erupted, slamming her hand down on the table. Akira flinched back slightly in shock from the unexpected show of anger. Only a fool would be blind to this. Grandmother was hiding something, something big enough to make her break character.

"No more questions! None! You will do as I tell you", Grandmother shouted. "Now go elsewhere, I don't have the patience to deal with such an arrogant child!"

Akira scoffed loudly in disbelief and stood, her chair scraping against the floor. She stared at her angry grandmother wordlessly before turning around and leaving out of the room, furious and holding back her tongue.

She needed to talk to Bilal, urgently. Just as she was about to head to her room, a servant came up and told her that Madam Matilda was waiting in the room where they usually met.

"Gosh", Akira muttered once the servant was out of earshot. "Now is really not a good time".

She begrudgingly walked to the room where Madam Matilda would be, scanning the corridors for any sign of cameras of sorts.

Akira stopped in her tracks. There was one. Right in the top corner of the wall, almost blending in with the deep red wallpaper. How had she not noticed them all this time? As she reached outside the room where Madam Matilda was, she noticed another camera perched just opposite the door and felt herself pale a little.

She quickly opened the door and shut it behind her carefully, wanting to be out of the gaze of the camera. There were definitely no cameras in this room as it was all white and she would have picked it up the first day she came.

"Sorry we could not have tea together yesterday, my appointment was rather urgent", Madam Matilda said, startling Akira who had forgotten she was there in the midst of her new discovery. Madam Matilda gave a small almost sad smile to Akira as she sat down on the sofa opposite.

Warning bells were ringing in Akira's head. First of all, Grandmother - who didn't even bat an eyelash when her own son died - was worried. Then Arthur wanted to tell Akira about some big secret and now, Madam Matilda.

"Is something the matter?" Akira asked, perplexed.

"No, of course not!" Madam Matilda responded - far too quickly for Akira's liking.

"Madam Matilda, I see you as quite an intelligent woman and I hope you also see me the same way". Madam Matilda nodded but before she could speak, Akira spoke again. "Only a fool would be blind to this mess. I trust you - somewhat anyway - and I know that something is not quite right. I would just like to ask one thing because I do not want our relationship to be sullied with misunderstandings".

Akira noticed a visible hitch in Madam Matilda's breathing.

"Were you in any way romantically involved with my father?" Akira asked in a hesitant voice.

Madam Matilda sighed in relief and even laughed. "Oh, dear me, no! Well, not romantically anyway! I was - if you could call it that - an acquaintance at most".

Akira narrowed her eyes. There was still something she wasn't being told, else why was Madam Matilda so nervous before? She exhaled deeply. There was no use pressing it when she would receive no answers.

"I think Lord Arthur nearly slipped up. He mentioned a Lady M. Do you know who she is? I swear not to tell my grandmother anything. I just want to feel a little less helpless in the face of all this unknown".

Madam Matilda sighed again and massaged her temple. She looked at Akira, deep in thought before she spoke again. "I will trust you, please, do not break that trust". Akira nodded firmly to say yes and waited quietly for Madam Matilda to continue. "I think you misheard Lord Arthur and I know why you thought of me. He was talking about Lady Emmeline, a woman who was interested in your father. She was quite heartbroken hearing about your father's elopement".

"Why is that such a big secret? Grandmother did not want me to know", Akira asked thoughtfully.

"I think Her Grace did want to scare you-"

Akira looked at Madam Matilda incredulously. More like 'Her Grace' didn't want to scare her off.

Madam Matilda shrugged helplessly. "I have already overstepped my boundaries and I really cannot say anymore. Please, do not put me in a difficult position".

"Fine, thank you for what you have said so far; I really mean it".

They both lapsed into silence. Akira frowned. There were still so many secrets and mysteries. Was there any way she could get hold of the guest list of tomorrow's ball to find out who the VIP guests were? She doubted it. She wouldn't even know where to start looking. Was the big secret that this Lady Emmeline would be attending? Was this lady still bitter about her father and maybe wanted revenge on the product of his elopement? it didn't make sense though - Lord Arthur had said that it would be life-changing and meeting a woman who had a crush on your father wasn't exactly life-changing. Weird yes, but arguably not life-changing.

"So did Her Grace mention what she will be wearing?" Madam Matilda asked, tactfully steering the conversation to safer grounds.

"Yes, a green dress of sorts. I didn't ask too much". Akira knew why her grandmother was wearing green. It was the Astley colour - a symbol of their ducal status. It was a way to show superiority to everyone else that would attend tomorrow.

"What will you wear?" Madam Matilda inquired.

"Blue", Akira replied. It was the first dress in her walk-in wardrobe so she had decided to go with it.

"Good. It's not a good idea to clash with Her Grace's plans".

Madam Matilda was right. It was definitely not a good idea to clash with Grandmother's dress. But she was running out of good ideas on how to make a statement. And the idea of showing her grandmother that she too would and could wear green was slowly becoming more and more tempting. Akira fought the devious smile threatening to cross her face. She definitely had a green ball gown amongst all the new dresses she bought. It was time to turn the tables a little.

"Tomorrow, I will be there to help you prepare in any way you need", Madam Matilda said to fill the silence between them.

"Huh? Okay", she responded as her train of thought was interrupted.

There was a moment of awkward silence and Akira ransacked her brain, thinking of something to say.

"Well, how was your appointment?" Akira finally asked.

"Oh, it was alright", Madam Matilda responded vaguely.

Another silence followed.

"Well, thank you for coming to see me today, Madam Matilda. I won't hold you for any longer", Akira said, getting up from her seat. She couldn't wait anymore, she had to speak to Bilal about that pesky guest list.

"Oh, okay", Madam Matilda responded, sounding a little disappointed. "You don't need to see me out, it's okay".

Akira did anyway, watching her car drive away from the front door and then she half-ran upstairs to her room. After a thorough search, there didn't seem to be any cameras in her room but there was one in the corridor outside which seemed to mock her every time she discreetly looked at it.

After a quick phone call with Bilal where she requested him to get a hold of the guest list, she lay down listlessly.

A suspicious grandmother. A concerned Lord. An apprehensive Madam. And now, a heartbroken woman.

The list was just growing bigger and bigger with every day that passed. Was there really a way out of this black hole of a mess?

Hah, I'm so sleepy lol.

Question for today:

Early bird or night owl?

Xx