What happened? Who was that just now? That situation wasn’t a part of Sera’s memories in her past life. She walked backed and forth around her room as she tried to organize her thoughts.
When she felt tired, she sat at her study desk and pulled a paper and a pen from the drawer, and started writing things down. First, she wasn’t in a dream. Second, she truly went back to the past and that was her reality now.
What should she do?
It was the biggest question in that situation. Of course, her goal was to survive, but how exactly would she try to survive? Did she have to relive that life again?
She clenched her fists as she remembered the days when she couldn’t do the things that she wanted because she promised to live quietly. Would something change if she tried something that she liked?
She put a big question mark on the paper filled with her scribbles. What should she do in order to survive? If only she could leave…
She froze after realizing what her thoughts were about. It was like a eureka moment. A time where she realized that she had a brilliant idea.
She could just leave the house! But the problem was… how?
How would she leave that house when her father took her in to hide her existence?
“My lady?” Mary knocked on her bedroom door.
She crumpled the paper and threw it back in the drawer before she went to open the door. “What is it, Ma—”
She closed her mouth when she saw the beautiful person who caught her a while ago. What was he doing there in the annex? The maids were all informed that no one except the family members was allowed to visit her place.
“I’m sorry, my lady…” Mary bowed her head to apologize.
She looked at her brother who stood beside the stranger. His brows were furrowed and she was sure that she could’ve been scolded if not for the visitor who seemed to be curious about her.
“Who is she, Xander?” the boy asked.
“That little girl is a guest,” Xander said as he pushed the door open and entered her room.
She had no choice but to follow them and ask Mary to prepare tea for the guests. She opened the cabinet on her bedside table and took out a box of cookies. With an awkward smile, she put the cookies at the center of the table.
“Let’s have some snacks while waiting for the tea?” She asked, trying to be as hospitable as she could be.
“What’s your name, Miss?” the boy asked again. He looked younger than Xander but not older than Andrei so he should be around age 13 or 14.
Sera looked down. Despite living her life for eighteen years in the past, there was never a time when she encountered the boy. How should she answer such a question? Was it okay to tell him the truth?
“Your Imperial Highness, why are you so interested in her?” Xander said in a disgusted tone.
“Because she looks just like your father, Xander,” the prince said with a smile. “Is she your sister?”
Sera’s eyes grew wide. How naïve of her! How could she expect to hide her identity when her appearance was from the Fiore bloodline from head to toe? But what shocked her more was the way her brother called the boy. Your Imperial Highness? What was the Crown Prince doing in the Fiore Manor’s annex?
“Sister? Do you think a daughter could survive carrying the Fiore Family’s genes?” Xander cocked his brows at her.
Sera secretly rolled her eyes. Why was he acting that way? She wasn’t the one who insisted that she was a Fiore. If she could deny it, she definitely would! She wouldn’t want to be put in the same category as her heartless brothers.
“I think this lady here survived somehow.” The crown prince smiled at her but she just looked down and hid her face.
Having the attention of the crown prince was burdensome. How did she even manage to catch his attention? She was supposed to live a quiet life and run away to survive. But at that moment, she’d rather stay inside the annex and never come out ever again.
“You’re pretty bold, aren’t you?” The crown prince asked her as he leaned his head closer to her. “Why did you jumped off the window?”
Sera felt her mouth ran dry at the sudden question. Why did she even do it? Had she known that there was someone below, she wouldn’t even dare to jump. Now all she could do was look for a way to get out of the problem.
“I did not, your imperial highness. It was an accident.” She felt as if she had been forced to lie in order to survive. Her eyes grew wide when the crown prince held her chin and lifted her head to face him.
“Lies.” The crown prince smirked, crossed his arms as he leaned on the couch, and turned to Xander. “If you don’t want her here, can I have her instead?”
Sera’s eyes grew wide again. What was wrong with him? Why would he want a clueless little girl like her? Couldn’t he get the gist of the situation? She was someone who was supposed to be hidden in the annex.
“Forgive me, your imperial highness. I don’t think I would give my daughter to you at such a young age.”
The three of them looked towards the door and saw the duke standing there. It was the third time that Sera saw her father and she realized that she was a spitting image of him. If she tried to act like him, would she give off the same vibe?
“Duke Fiore.” The crown prince smiled. “Then, will you send her to me once she grows up?”
“If you still want her by then, your imperial highness.”
Sera felt disgusted by their conversation. How could they talk about her as if she was an object to be given away? How could they talk about such a topic right in front of her?
“You disgust me, Duke.” The crown prince scoffed. “How could you easily send her daughter away like that?”
“But my methods are effective, your imperial highness.” The duke smiled back. “Knowing that I’d give her easily to you, you don’t want her anymore, right?”
“Hey, kid.” The Crown Prince looked at her and lend his hand. “Leave this place and come with me, I’ll treat you better.”With the innocent yet determined face that he showed, Sera was almost persuaded. Wouldn’t it be better to leave the manor with him? However, it was the first time that she had a chance to encounter him. What if he was way more frightening than the Fiores? What if just like her family, he would just be using her to get what he wanted?A silence ensued as everyone was waiting for her answer. She slowly shook her head and hid behind her father. She had no choice but to rely on the duke at the moment.“I’m sorry but I want to stay with my father, your imperial highness,” she said and looked away. She couldn’t look at the eye of the person she rejected after he offered her his kindness.“It looked like you had your daughter wrapped around your fingers, Duke.” The Crown
“Tsk. Why do I need to serve a bastard daughter of the duke?” The maid mumbled as she entered Sera’s room. “If she didn’t arrive, I wouldn’t be assigned here in the annex!”Sera pretended not to hear her rants. It had been a week since the duke’s weird way of treating her and after he left, he didn’t visit again. She knew it just happened on a whim but she still felt disappointed about being unnoticed once more.But that would be okay! That would be better than dying earlier than expected.She tried to console herself so she wanted to distance herself from any negative remarks. Ignoring them would be better for her rather than overthinking and drowning herself in misery just like what she did before.“Hey, Miss. Eat this.” The maid forcefully put the meal on the table in her room.Though she heard what the maid said, she didn’t feel like eating so she just ignored her.&
“Young lady, the duke has called for you to his office,” Mary said after talking with the knights outside the annex.“In his office? Am I even allowed to go to the main house?” Sera asked since such a scene didn’t happen in her past life. The only time she set foot on the main house was when she first met the duke and the last time was when she was killed eight years after.She never had a good experience in the main house so she was somewhat anxious. She didn’t want to leave her annex especially since there was still a possibility of her being killed by her own brother.“Yes, my lady. We need to prepare and make sure that you look your best.” Mary was excited. She hoped that the duke would finally realize his daughter’s worth and would start to treat her preciously.However, Sera’s interpretation of the situation was different. Rather than an opportunity, she found the duke’s sudden attent
Sera couldn’t understand the duke’s actions so she was pondering about it after she arrived back to the annex. Just why would the duke bestow her a name that was only given to children who should bring honor and glory to the Duchy? He didn’t do that in her past life no matter how hard she tried to be acknowledge by him, and yet he did that when she literally did nothing to get his attention.“My lady, you should’ve eaten your lunch with the duke,” Mary said while preparing the table for her meal.It took her a lot of courage just to decline a meal with him. Since she had been filled with doubts and confusion, she couldn’t take any more than that. She felt like she would explode if she stayed there for a little longer. That was just how uncomfortable it was for her to be with him.“My lady, you have a visitor.”Sera looked at Mary with a questioning look but the latter just shrugged. They weren’t
Though Sera accepted Ric’s invitation, the prince knew it was because she couldn’t refuse someone from the imperial bloodline. Despite knowing, he was amused instead of feeling guilty for forcing her to agree with his proposition. It was a mystery for him as he tried to understand what was going on in her head and the more she tried to create a gap between him and her, the more he wanted to mess with her.“Shall we go on a walk?” He chuckled when the lady discreetly rolled her eyes before nodding her head. Just how cute could she be when she tries to suppress her annoyance?Ric offered his hand for the lady to hold but Sera smiled awkwardly.“I don’t think I could just touch your imperial highness so casually.” Instead, she stood behind him and gestured for him to take the lead.“Don’t get smart with me.” Ric chuckled as he pulled her hand and wrap it on his arm. “Now let’s walk.&rdqu
“You went to the Fiore Manor again?” William, the second prince, asked his brother as soon as the crown prince arrived in his palace.He had been waiting for him to arrive because he had something to discuss with him but he ended up being curious as to why his brother spent a long time in there when he kept on babbling that he wanted to cut a bit of the Fiore House’s influence. Did he change his mind after a few encounters with the duke and his heir?“What’s the problem if I spend time on places that I wanted?” Ric said as he dropped his body on the couch.He went directly to the receiving room when his attendant informed him that William was waiting for him and it had been a few hours since he arrived. He didn’t want him to wait longer because he thought that he had something important to report but it turned out that he was just curious about his personal affairs.“You don’t easily change your mind,
“My lady, you received a letter from the palace,” Mary informed her as soon as a knight delivered the mail to the annex.“From the palace?” Her face turned to a grimace when she realized that there was a certain someone from the palace who would dare send her a letter.“I guess you already knew who it was from,” Mary said with a teasing tone. She smiled sweetly as she handed her the letter.“Just thinking about the possible content of this letter already gives me a lot of headaches.” Sera sighed as he sat on the couch and opened the letter with the imperial seal.The rarest flower in the Duke’s AnnexSera laughed when she saw the name to whom the letter was addressed. Was it because no one knew about her existence yet? She thought that he was acting impulsively when he sent her a letter but it seemed to be not the case.To the most beautiful flower that I’ve
“You intentionally went there, didn’t you?” Duke Fiore asked his wife that night. He heard that the duchess met Sera when she was having tea with Andrei so he had a hunch that she intentionally went there to meet his daughter.“You didn’t like it?” The duchess asked as she sat across the duke. It was already in the middle of the night but they were still both awake because of the works they had to do.“I told you not to go near her,” the duke’s voice was stern but not reprimanding. “Why would you even want to meet your husband’s daughter from another woman?”“Why?” Stephanie, the duchess, scoffed. “Do you think that I’ll harass her just because she was an illegitimate child?”“No…” The duke was out of words. No—he just couldn’t say the words that he wanted to tell her.How could he? He didn’t have the right to e