Chapter 82 – A Little Princess’s Journey from Darkness to Light Novel

Filed To Story: A Little Princess's Journey from Darkness to Light Novel

Josh resisted the urge to give her a hug. Instead, he merely patted her on the shoulder stonily as he said, “There’s no such thing… Ghosts are nothing to be afraid of.” He was just about to say there that was no such thing as ghosts, but he knew better now.

Old Mrs. Crawford appeared from the kitchen carrying a tray of food. “Lilly, you’re up early!” the old lady said as she noticed Lilly with the boys.

“Granny!” Lilly squealed as her vision came into focus. “I’m hungry.”

“Oh? It seems hunger is the only thing that can wake you up, silly girl,” the old lady chuckled heartily. “Come, try some of these buns fresh out of the oven!”

“I’ll brush my teeth first!” Lilly exclaimed as she ran up the stairs two at a time.

Josh shut his textbook and went over to help Old Mrs. Crawford set up the table for breakfast. Drake watched all of this in amusement. Josh never let anything distract him when he was concentrating on his arithmetic calculations. He probably would not even budge in the event of an earthquake, and yet now here he was helping Granny arrange the breakfast table just for Lilly.

Drake shrugged as he walked over to help his brother out. Typically, chores like these were done by a servant and as the young master of the Crawford family, Drake never had to lift a finger. Family meals at the Crawford home never used to be like this. Back then, once the dining table was set up by the servant, the Crawfords would each sit down quietly to finish their meal and go about their own way once they were done. Drake had gotten used to the cold detachment of the entire ritual.

As he heard Lilly’s excited footsteps barreling down the stairs, he could not help but think to himself how much had changed since this little sister of theirs entered their lives. All of a sudden, she did not seem so irritating any longer.

As Lilly rushed down the stairs, she missed a step and found herself in mid-air for a few seconds before landing on the ground with a loud crash. As she laid motionless on the ground, a parrot appeared from behind her, spreading its wings wide and shaking its little head. Instead of stopping where Lilly was, the parrot perched itself on Lilly’s head.

Drake let out a cackle as he watched the entire scene unfold. “What an idiot!” he muttered.

Lilly grasped at her head. “Polly, you’re stepping on me!!” she grumbled.

Polly immediately hopped off Lilly’s head onto the ground and scampered around in circles. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! One more time! One more time!” the parrot squawked repetitively only to be met by Lilly’s death stare.

Josh immediately rushed to Lilly’s aid, lending her a hand to help her stand up on her feet. “Are you alright? Does it hurt?” Josh’s voice was concerned.

Lilly shook her head. “Nope. Pfft, that’s nothing!”

Josh could not hold back his laughter. “Well, that’s some skill you have right there!” he chuckled.

A lightbulb went off in Lilly’s head. She finally understood what she had – it was skill! When she lived with the Hatchers, no one bothered to talk to her, so she had to pull all sorts of pranks to get someone’s attention. Now, she was a genius whiz kid who learnt new words and picked up new skills in seconds! She was only going to become more skillful from now on!

As Old Mrs. Crawford brought over a tray of pasta to the table, Drake came over to take the tray from her. “Granny, just let the servants do their job,” he said flatly.

“It’s alright, Drake. It’s good exercise for me anyway,” Old Mrs. Crawford smiled. She enjoyed cooking and had been personally cooking meals for the family lately. The servants and cooks had modified the kitchen layout just so Old Mrs. Crawford could move about the kitchen easily with her weak legs. On the menu today was spaghetti bolognese, hot cross buns, blueberry muffins and chocolate milk.

Lilly took a big bite of the hot cross bun and squealed in delight. Even a plain bun like that tasted so delicious!

“Lilly, have some spaghetti!” Old Mrs. Crawford felt a deep sense of satisfaction watching Lilly enjoy her food. The girl was not picky with food and would eat anything given to her. Lilly nodded and scooped a heaping mountain of pasta onto her plate. She forked a large portion of pasta into her mouth and gobbled it all up, getting sauce all over her face in the process.

Drake could not believe this girl. Was the pasta really that good? he wondered. Unlike Lilly, Drake twirled a small spoonful of pasta before politely bringing the spoon to his mouth and gingerly taking a bite. Hmm… he slowed his chewing. He did not know why, but the pasta was more delicious than he remembered it to be.

After breakfast, Lilly carried her backpack out of the door. The little girl had on a new panda bag pack today that she used to house Tortoise in as well as Polly who wormed her way inside.

“Where are you headed, Lilly?” Old Mrs. Crawford asked.

Anthony Crawford, who was swiftly eating his breakfast after finishing a morning meeting, answered on Lilly’s behalf. “We’re paying the Taylors a visit.”

Noticing Old Mrs. Crawford’s confusion, Lilly explained further. “Remember the ribbon cutting ceremony for Taylor Entertainment that Uncle Anthony brought me to? It’s the same Taylor!” she beamed.

Lilly might have mixed up Taylor Entertainment and the Taylor family, but that did not stop Old Mrs. Crawford from admonishing her son. “You may be a workaholic yourself, but you shouldn’t involve Sweet Pea in it. How are you going to keep her entertained while you’re busy with work? What if she wants to play?”

Anthony rubbed at his temple. How did he end up getting scolded by his mother once again?

The car left Peninsula Villas and traveled on the highway through the bustling city to arrive at Greenview Bay. Greenview Bay was home to the best schools in the city and the land price in the area was among the most expensive. Only the city’s most affluent could afford to buy a home here.

Valentine Taylor was already waiting outside the door when Lilly and Anthony arrived at his home, smiling from ear to ear as he spotted them. “Ms. Lilly! Please come in!” he greeted jovially.

Just as Lilly was about to enter Valentine Taylor’s home, she felt a sudden compulsion to turn around. That was when she spotted an old lady dressed in a green Victorian era ball gown on the second-floor balcony of the opposite villa. The old lady grinned as she locked eyes with Lilly. Lilly gasped.

Jake did not attend any of his extracurricular cla*ses today. Instead, he took on the role of being Lilly’s chaperone and followed her to Mr. Taylor’s home as well. “What’s wrong, Lil?” he asked as he followed Lilly’s line of sight toward the balcony of the opposite house. Lilly’s little face was colored upset with a frown.

“Lilly?” Anthony stopped in his tracks.Valentine Taylor felt his stomach lurch in despair as he noticed Lilly’s obvious unhappiness. Oh no, what’s the little brat unhappy with now? He looked around and saw an overgrown bonsai plant to Lilly’s right. Perhaps she thinks the plant is hideous?

“Quick, move the plant into the courtyard right now!” Valentine instructed two of his servants before rushing up to Lilly. “What’s the matter, Ms. Lilly?” he asked.

Lilly remained facing the bungalow opposite with one hand on her waist. “Hey! Granny upstairs! I’ve put up with you for a long time now!” she yelled. The old lady just stared at Lilly with a sinister smile.

Anthony and the rest followed Lilly’s gaze toward the balcony. Valentine felt goosebumps pricking his skin upon the grim realization that there was no one there.

“Ms. Lilly, the old lady in that house pa*sed away last year…” Valentine gulped. The little brat could not possibly be seeing the old lady from next door, could she? His knees weakened at the thought.

Lilly turned toward Valentine. “Mr. Val, is that your house too?” she asked, referring to the house opposite. She took a good look at Valentine’s face before turning back to look at the old granny on the balcony again. The two of them looked eerily alike! How interesting…

Valentine’s eyes widened. “No… no! That house belongs to the Rosewoods. Now that you’ve mentioned it, it’s quite a tragic story for the Rosewood family who used to live there too…” Valentine paused. He could not help but feel as if someone from the opposite house was observing him too.

“What happened to them?” Anthony pressed.

Valentine sighed before continuing. “More than ten years ago, the Rosewoods had a daughter who was murdered by her close friend. The murder was extremely cruel, and I heard the police only found her dismembered body parts with no bones. The Rosewoods only had one daughter, and Old Mrs. Rosewood went mad after her death…”

Valentine’s voice lowered into a whisper as he looked left and right. “But before the girl was caught, the police found her dead body in an old printing factory. Rumor has it that it was Old Mr. Rosewood who arranged for her murder. Perhaps it was a clean job or someone in the police did not have the heart to arrest the old man, but the old man got away due to a lack of evidence and the case was closed. The old couple continued living in the house, always looking out for any news about their daughter’s remains, but the old lady finally kicked the bucket last year.”

Old Mr. Rosewood was the only person living in that old house now. Valentine felt a chill down his spine as he recounted the story to Lilly and her entourage.

“He didn’t force the girl to reveal the location of his daughter’s remains?” Anthony asked.

Valentine shook his head and looked down. “I’m sure he did, but he never got an answer.”

Pablo appeared from the shadows of the towering walls of the villa. “If my guess is correct, this should be the house inhabited by the vanity ghost,” he commented. It was all too much of a coincidence that Pablo felt there must be more to it. He raised his head in contemplation.

Lilly stomped her foot impatiently. “Uncle Anthony, I want to go in… can we knock on the door?” she pleaded. Anthony immediately carried Lilly into his arms while motioning for his a*sistant to go ahead and knock on the door.

“Does… Ms. Lilly know the Rosewood family?” Valentine asked, treading cautiously. To be honest, he was not all that keen on going into the Rosewood home. He had even previously considered selling off his own villa, but his fortune teller had told him that his villa was in a good location that would help his business prosper, so he never did. However, he did not anticipate having to enter the Rosewood home ever. He was still traumatized by the tragic incident!

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