2. The Heir of Leister

The carriage of nightmare had arrived in front of the front gate, and only a matter of time before it stopped right in front of her.

It brought Abelard, Barend’s future successor. The boy snatched all of her father’s attention away. That's way Felen hated and resented him.

Not long after, the carriage stopped in front of her. As the head butler opened the door, a boy stepped out of the carriage. Barend moved forward while spreading his arms to welcome him.

“Abelard, my son and the sole heir of Leister,” said Barend, and Felen sneered. As if he made fun of her - the rumoured illegitimate child, even though Felen and Barend had the same eyes colour that confirmed their blood ties.

The warm atmosphere between Barend and Abelard made Felen envious. He came from the slum, yet took over her position and made all her efforts as a former heiress became meaningless.

They need not her presence because when Abelard, Barend, and the servants and maids entered the manor, they left her alone. Felen laughed at the unfair treatment. She took a deep breath to drive away from the tears that waited to shed, then she stepped into the manor. She wished not to take part in celebrating Abelard’s welcome party and going back to her room, but Barend would not let her.

The event held in the recreation room, decorated with various kinds of balloons and ribbons. Abelard seemed happy, but Felen did not care about that. Her eyes wandered around instead, looking for Aghnya’s whereabouts. However, her mother was nowhere to be seen.

“Felenia, where have you been? Come on, introduce yourself to your brother, Abelard.” Barend’s voice rose a few octaves, making Felen startled.

“Ah, yes, Papa,” she said with a grim expression.

“I’m Felenia Sashenka Henzie, nice to meet you.” Felen introduced herself with Aghnya’s maiden name.

One thing that caught her attention when faced with Abelard’s fixed gaze was his eyes, green like hers and Barend’s. A characteristic of the descendants of the Leister family had.

“Hello, Big sis. I’m Abelard Philip Leister.” The way Abelard introduced himself like a young, educated nobleman made Felen’s brows furrow. He was just a commoner from the slums. However, his attitude did not show it at all. Instead, he showed only perfection of a nobleman.

There was an odd feeling about Abelard’s attitude that made her uneasy. Her instinct said so. That’s why Felen tried her best not to run into him, let alone being in the same room, except on Barend’s orders, like now, having a tea party together in the greenhouse.

“Sister, what were you daydreaming about? You didn’t even touch these delicious cookies. Are you sick? You look pale,” said Abelard. He pointed at the various kinds of sweet and salty snacks served on the table, then looked back at Felen intently.

Felen flinched, then looked doubtfully at Abelard, who was showing a worried expression, contrary to the smile on his face. She felt that Abelard’s aura was very dark and intimidating.

“I’m... fine. It’s just your feelings,” Felen said.

Abelard that adapted to a noble environment, raised her suspicion. The way he interacted with the maids and butlers seemed natural, with no gaps, and his demeanour was too perfect, besides he hadn’t had lessons amd formal education from the teacher.

“I’m sure now that your mind isn’t here.”

The corner of Felen’s eye twitched when his guess hit the mark. However, she tried to hide it by not denying it too much.

“I thought about something, but it’s nothing important.” A faint smile crept onto Felen’s lips.

“Rather than that — “ Her words stopped when a black cat jumped onto the table that served tea and some sweet and salty snacks.

“Goldie!” she shouted, forgetting the noble ethics that she held high. Her focus on the black cat made her forget Abelard, who was staring in horror at the fluffy animal. Abelard looked scared; he retreated step by step to get away from the black cat. However, the cat drew even closer and made Abelard stepped back even more. He didn’t realise that a pond with a depth of five meters was behind him.

“Watch out — “ Felen’s cry trying to tell Abelard about the pool behind him, but was too late because he already fell over the barrier and plunged into the pool without having time to realise that.

Felen, who realised Abelard couldn’t swim and tried to stay on the surface of the water even though it looked hard, didn’t call the maids or butlers to save her half-brother. She just stood there and hugged Goldie — the black cat with gold eyes, in her arms.

“Fele—nia! Please...!” No matter how loud Abelard’s voice calling for help, Felen remained rooted to the spot. She believed Abelard deserved it because he had destroyed the harmony of her family and made Aghnya dan Barend lost their love and intimacy. However, the thought did not last long when the butler shouted Abelard’s name, then asked another butler to help him. The butler who came first jumped into the pool to save Abelard. Before long, other servants started arriving in droves. Felen, who had been silent all this time, felt panic when she heard Barend’s shrill voice.

“What the hell is happening here?!” Although Barend’s expression was stony and his tone was calm, a trace of panic appeared in his eyes. The maids who were there just looked down in fear. They could not explain anything because they did not see the incident. As for Abelard, he couldn’t tell anything by looking at his condition. He was still coughing from the water that had entered his throat.

However, Abelard’s eyes, fixed on Felen, made Barend assume something bad. He approached his first child with wide strides; he consumed by anger.

“What did you do to him? Did you push him? Do you intend to kill my successor?” asked Barend.

“N— no, Papa. I couldn’t possibly do something evil like that.” Felen’s voice trembled. Barend’s cynical gaze made her shrink. He didn’t take his eyes off Felen for a few seconds. He could see no lies, but his slightly frantic emotions made him see Felen as the culprit.

“Lying will only make your punishment worse, Felenia.” Barend said coldly, with a look in his eyes that made Felen speechless. She stood giddy as tightly clenched her fists. Her heart ached because Barend didn’t believe her words at all. She didn’t push Abelard. Indeed, she did not call for help right away when Abelard sank deeper and deeper into the bottom of the pool; she felt guilty, too.

“Take Abelard to his room, and call the doctor immediately!” Barend ordered firmly. Then his eyes turned back to Felen, gazing at her.

“And you Felenia, come to my room after dinner.” Before Felen could answer, Barend left with the servants, again leaving her all alone.

“Yes, Papa,” she whispered in the silence. The tears that she had been holding back rolled down her cheeks.

She whimpered as she covered her eyes with her arms. The golden-eyed black cat near her rubbed its body against her legs, trying to comfort her without words and telling Felen that she wasn’t alone. Even though Felen was still sobbing, a faint smile was now on her lips. Then she gently stroked the cat’s black fur. Her feelings got better slightly with its presence, yet the tightness in her chest did not go away completely.

***