After the song number, Edward informed them that he will send the draft contract through mail in the coming week. They agreed to meet again on Saturday to finalize it and at the same time, for Serena to get the updated numbers for 'we are the world'.
Serena thought that singing 'nothing's gonna stop us now' without any context to the public might make certain people react negatively. Thus, she mentioned creating an event for publicizing the contract signing to Edward. During that event, they can debut the song too.
Edward of course saw that as something ingenious. Not only can it serve as debut, but it will also raise awareness that Charlton and Serena are with him, making his company somewhat untouchable.
Anyway, they all agreed to discuss it in detail later. After a couple of niceties, they left Edward's company, sharing a carriage without insignia which Charlton prepared beforehand.
--
Serena felt Charlton tap her nose to wake her from her slumber. Long carriage rides always make her feel tired and sleepy with all the rocking. She was leaning her head on his shoulder her arms wrapped around his left arm.
Feeling the carriage halt. She untangled herself from him. "We've arrived back already?".
Charlton just smiled and shook his head. "Take a look outside."
Curious, Serena she shifted the curtain to look outside. Outside, she saw residential houses and none of the hustling and bustling of town, making it the feel like they were in a suburb area "Where are we?" she asked.
Before Charlton could answer, Jack, Charlton's coachman, knocked before opening the door of the carriage. Then he bowed, "We have arrived milord."
Charlton went down of the carriage first then he offered his hand for Serena to take so that he can help her down.
Serena took his hand as she alighted from the carriage. She noticed that they were in front of a standard looking Folk Victorian house made of wood. Was this what she thinks it is? She looked at him wide eyed.
Charlton chuckled seeing her expression, "What? Did you expect that I prefer spending all our time in the private music room?"
Serena shook her head, in fact, she thought of buying or renting a property herself, but she doesn't have an accomplice for that, nor did she have the opportunity to do so. Anyway, she questioningly looked at Charlton. "When and how did you manage to acquire this?"
"Let's discuss it inside. We don't want other people seeing us or listening to our conversation." He replied.
While using the key to unlock the door, he could not help but laugh seeing her looking left and right like they were some burglars. "If you keep behaving like that, we will look more suspicious to the neighbors."
"Well, our faces are quite easy to recognize so I'm afraid people will know that it is us."
"Okay, you have a point. Anyway, let's go inside."
--
"There's not a lot of furniture yet as I was only able to purchase the house last week with a pseudonym. I know it's nothing fancy, but anything else would be inconvenient given our circumstance. It's a little cramp and too simple in comparison to how I envision our place should be in the future, and ah, we can't really have maidservants while we're here. I mean…" Charlton explained feeling embarrassed. He doesn't want to make her think that he's a cheapskate or something. Though this place would just be their temporary alcove, they might be spending a lot of time in it.
Serena giggled seeing how awkward Charlton was being. "I understand. Stop being so awkward, it's not like this will be our permanent residence, and even if it were to be, I would still be happy with it."
The house was not that small. The combined floor area was about double Serena's room in the dormitory. However, being a son of the grand duke, Charlton's definition of cramped was not the same as any other normal person. Although he's used to living in the dormitory, outside school, his home were all palaces.
Charlton smiled as Serena looked around. Although the house was nothing much, the money used to buy it was from his share of income from the songs.
Serena was a daughter of a duke, but she was a transmigrator from modern times. So she thought that the place was good enough. She observed that the house has a folk Victorian architectural style and lay-out. Outside there was a piazza before the main door, then upon entering there's a small hall, where on the left was the stairs leading up while to the right was the empty parlor. Then connected to it was the dining room where there was a dining table for four. To its left was the kitchen, there was a door leading to the backyard and at the other end, two doors where one led to the small hall and the other to the toilet.
"I was not able to purchase a sala set yet, but there's a dining table and we can eat there. The kitchen is still sorely lacking, I mean the place still lacks a lot generally, but I wanted to come here and show you already." Charlton explained.
"It's just right. I want to help with the interior and the furniture later, but I don't know how to get those delivered here. Are there furniture catalogues available? Perhaps I can choose from there?" she asked. She can already envision what she can do to the place.
"Yes, I can send you some later and you can choose from there. Just tell me what you like then I will get it here."
Serena grinned as she nodded, he sounded like some CEO boasting his powers. "Okay."
"Anyway, let me show you the backyard." Charlton said with some excitement in his voice as he interlaced their fingers.
--
Exiting to the backyard, Serena observed that in the middle, there was an outdoor coffee table with chairs. Surrounding the whole area were potted flowers of varying shades and even in the patio where they were standing, there were hanging orchids.
"Who will be taking care of the plants and flowers later?" she asked. She was not particularly fond of gardening.
Charlton snorted. "And here I am trying to be romantic."
"The flowers are for me?" Serena asked in surprise.
"No, they're just there for decoration. Of course, they are for you. I just thought I never had the opportunity to give you flowers before."
Serena could not help but want to tease him, "Well, flowers in pots doesn't really look nor sound that romantic you know?
Charlton flicked her nose "You just ruined my moment. But just so you know, I wanted to say that I'm giving you these potted flowers, for like my love for you, they shall forever be endlessly blooming or something along those lines."
"Wow, thank you, that is so romantic of you!" she praised, however seeing his weird expression, she could not stop herself from laughing.
Charlton just shook his head. "Well, I did try."
--
After Serena's laugher died down, she kissed his lips then wrapped her arms around his arm, "Really thank you. I appreciate them."
Charlton smiled back at her, "Even if it's at my expense, I am glad that I brought you to laughter."
"Where did you learn all those cheesy lines?"
Charlton laughed as he shook his head, "Let me show you upstairs."
--
The second floor was divided into three rooms, the first they opened faces the backyard, inside was an upright piano and other musical instruments. There was also a study table and some chairs.
"I had the piano placed here rather than the parlor so that when we practice, we won't be overheard by people outside." Charlton explained.
Serena nodded her head in approval as she walked around the room.
The second room Charlton opened led to the bathroom. It had a bathtub and they turned to look at each other in reminisce of their previous experience in one.
"This bathtub is quite small sadly." Serena said with a playful smile.
Charlton shook his head as he smiled back at her mischievously. "Let me show you the bedroom."
--
When Charlton opened the door leading to the bedroom, Serena was surprised to see that it was fully furnished. It has a four poster bed, a love seat, a wardrobe, and even a vanity. The overall feel was quite romantic and she can see that the linen used on the bed was freshly washed.
"I think that your reason for us coming here today is not all that innocent." Serena commented.
Charlton could not help but laugh at her words, what can he say? He was guilty as charged.
"So, are you ready to bless our love nest with holy water?" Serena suggested as she wiggled her brows.
Charlton took a moment to internalize what she meant by holy water. When he realized what she meant, he could only guffaw.
--
TBC