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 expecting a visitor so who could it be? It wouldn’t be one of her brothers because they were probably eating lunch together with their parents.
“Can I join you with your lunch?” His familiar voice was heard as soon as he stepped in.
“What brought you here, your imperial highness?” Sera was shocked, though it didn’t show as she bowed her head gracefully and gestured him to sit with her.
Mary immediately ordered for another set of plate and cutleries for the crown prince to use. Who would have thought that the lady would eat a meal with the prince as soon as she declined the duke’s request? Did they have an agreement beforehand? That would explain why the lady didn’t want to dine with the duke’s family and it would be a valid reason if she just told her father.
“I just thought about paying you a visit.” The prince looked around. “Did I interrupt you with something?”
Though he sounded innocent, Sera sensed that the prince had a hidden motive for his visit. What could be the reason why he would spend time knowing that she was a bastard daughter? Was he trying to turn her existence into a scandal?
“No, of course not.” Sera smiled with elegance. Even if she was back to her young self, she couldn’t bring disgrace to her family for acting inappropriately in front of the imperial family. “It was an honor to be visited by this empire’s crown prince.”
“Please don’t just see me as a crown prince.” The prince smiled. “I came here to be your friend so just call me Ric.”
“How could I dare to…?” Sera asked him with wide eyes.
A maid arrived and served the crown prince with his meal. He took a bite of the steak before he looked at her and smirked.
“Why not? You are the sole daughter of the highest ranking duke in the empire. You are the fourth highest ranking lady after the empress, the princess and the duchess,” Ric said proudly as he smiled.
“But I’m…”
“A bastard child?” The crown prince scoffed. “That doesn’t matter if you came from a powerful family.”
“You seem to see my family as a powerful one,” Sera said meaningfully when she noticed something suspicious. If the crown prince saw her family as a powerful one, would it mean that he was planning to lower their influence?
“And you seem to like your family though they had been keeping you like a rare treasure in this annex?”
How brazen could this man be? How could he spout such ill-will towards the daughter of the estate where he was in?
“What is there not to like?” Of course it was a lie that she had to tell to keep her family’s honor intact. She wouldn’t be able to escape from them if they suddenly collapsed.
“If I were you, I would’ve craved for freedom.”
He was right on point. Who wouldn’t crave for freedom when she knew that she would be killed if she stayed there for long? However, she couldn’t be rash with her decisions. She knew just how powerful The Fiore house could be and she knew how she could ruin her family with just her existence.
“I have no need for freedom.” Another lie. Just how many lies would she spout during her meal with him?
“You haven’t seen the world so you don’t know how wonderful it was.” It was a meaningful statement but it meant nothing to her.
The world that she saw outside the annex was worse. She witnessed the worst parts of the empire that most nobles never saw. She watched people die from starvation as she tried to survive herself. She embraced her mother’s cold corpse as she waited for someone who would lend a helping hand to a ten-year-old orphan but no one did.
She had to be smart and agile to be able to eat at least once a day. She had to know the routes where most bullies go and avoid them so that she could eat her own hard-earned food.
It was a tough struggle but she survived. If it wasn’t for the curiosity that she had from her father’s memento, she would’ve been spared from the neglect that she experienced.
“Lady Fiore?” The Crown Prince’s voice brought her back to reality.
She looked at him and smiled awkwardly. What kind of expression did she just show him while she was lost in thoughts?
“My apologies, your imperial highness.” She smiled and bowed her head. “It seemed like I’ve been lost in thought as I pictured the outside world in my mind.”
Ric laughed. “I guess I wasn’t enough to capture your attention?”
“I guess the outside world that you’re talking about is much more interesting than I thought it would be.” She smiled. She could feel her lips getting numb from smiling but she reminded herself that it wouldn’t be for long.
“Would you like to spend a day with me outside?”
Sera didn’t expect the crown prince to suddenly ask her so she didn’t know what to say. She stayed silent for a while and it was the crown prince who broke the silence.
“If you want, I could ask the duke if he could allow you.”
“You don’t have to,” Sera said and shook her head but Ric insisted.
“I’ll do it for you so please don’t refuse my kindness.”
Sera had no choice but to nod and sigh. Just what kind of mess did she let herself into?
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
Sera didn’t expect that the duchess would call for her after just a few days from meeting her. What was she up to? Since they already met, would she start harassing her or something?Sera almost laughed at her own thoughts. How could she think that way after meeting the duchess? She was a witness to how warm and kind she was.“I think the duchess will like you so don’t worry too much, my lady.” Mary put a shawl over her shoulder. “Please rest assured that you are such a loveable young lady. You shouldn’t worry about impressions and work.”“I’m not worried.” Sera chuckled but her lips slightly trembled.Lies.Of course, she was afraid. What if something happened? What if she died right there?Her head was up in space and she didn’t realize that she was already at the door.“You called for me, duchess?” Sera entered the room slowly and gracefully bowed her hea
Since that day, Sera was asked to move to the main house and her room was one of the biggest rooms in the estate. She was told that she would need to attend the coming out banquet wherein most ten-year-old noble children and their parents would attend so that they could socialize with each other.As an aristocrat, they had to know the people in their generations so that they could form connections from different aristocratic families. Because of that, there had been a tradition that there will be three parties held in the imperial palace for the noble children to attend.First was the event called the light tea party. The light tea party was meant for children 5-7 years old. It should be the first time that a child of a noble family would attend a party and they could meet children of the same age. During those parties, groups of friends were already formed mostly based on the status of the family they belong to.The second one would be the coming-out banquet th
It was early in the morning and Sera already heard the knights’ chanting for their morning training when she heard her brother’s voice calling out for her outside her bedroom door. She rubbed her eyes as she looked at the door. She was still half-asleep when she went out of her bed and opened the door for Andrei.“Good morning, Sister!” Andrei messed her hair but Sera didn’t react to it as her attention was caught by someone who stood beside her brother.“Brother Xander?” she asked to confirm if her eyes weren’t messing with her sight.“Andrei requested to bring you to the training grounds. You wouldn’t be allowed to enter if I wasn’t there,” Xander explained with his arms crossed and his expression looked annoyed.“Really?” Sera’s eyes sparkled and her face lit up. Knowing that her family was a knight family, she always dreamed of entering the training grounds, but
Sera excitedly ran to the center where the wooden sword was displayed. Matthew opened the cover and Sera reached out for it. As soon as the sword was in her hand, Sera felt something warm ran through her entire body. It was as if a part of her had been missing and was given back. She could feel her heart beating fast in excitement from the feeling of the sword in her hand.The hilt felt like it was meant for her to hold and the sword’s weight felt a little lighter than she expected. Was it because it was a wooden sword and not a real blade? In her entire life, including before her death, it was the first time she held a sword. People said that the Fiore family was born to hold one so she wanted to try it even once.Now that it was in her hands, she realized that what the people said was true. Though it was her first time, she felt like she could wield the sword easily.She was holding the sword with one hand when she tried to wield it. The sound of the win