“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 Prince smirked but his eyebrows furrowed when he noticed that the duke was speechless.
He looked at the duke and saw that he was staring at the small hands of his daughter holding on to the hem of his shirt. He smiled at the amusing sight in front of him. It was as if he could see the way his father reacts every time the princess was acting cute.
Who would’ve known that the cold and icy duke who felt at home on the battlefield could be speechless when his daughter acted cutely? He became more interested in the lady because of what he saw. That girl could become the weakness of the Fiore family and he needed to take a hold of her.
“Sera, would you like to walk around the garden?” The duke suddenly asked the little girl.
“The garden?” Sera was confused. What was with the sudden change in attitude? The Duke never showed any interest in her before. What happened?
“Father!” Xander protested but the duke just looked at him with a stern gaze.
“Your sister had been cooped up in here since she entered the manor, she should at least be familiar with the manor as a member of the family.”
None of the duke’s sons rebutted. They all fell silent and the two couldn’t do anything when Xander went out of the annex.
It was truly a splendid sight for the crown prince. He didn’t even have to make a move; as he could see, the Fiore family wouldn’t be able to raise their influence than what they already have. With an internal conflict, no one in the family would dare covet his throne.
Alejandro offered his hand for Sera to hold. “Let’s go?”
With trembling hands, Sera gave her hand to his father. She could feel his cold hands, but there was a warmth that enveloped her. Was that the warmth that she wanted all along?
“If you’re going for a walk, then I’m coming too!” Andrei said while glaring at her.
“Me too!” Andric joined in.
“Can I go too?” The Crown Prince said with a smile but the Duke glared at him.
“Isn’t it time for his imperial highness to go back to the palace?” Alejandro said as he hid his daughter from the crown prince’s sight.
“Aren’t you being overprotective of her?” The crown prince laughed.
“She’s my daughter so it’s my obligation to keep her away from harm.”
Though Sera knew that those words were just said to push away the crown prince, she couldn’t stop her heart from being happy. How could she not? She always wanted to hear the duke call him his daughter but he never did in her entire life.
If she changed her approach in her new life, would there be a difference?
She held her father’s hand tighter and the duke looked at her. It was an awkward glance and Sera didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know how to act in front of him since he rarely visited her.
After the crown prince left, Sera tried to pull her hand from the duke but her father didn’t let go.
“Aren’t we going for a walk?”
Sera’s eyes grew wide. She thought it was just an act to push away the crown prince?
“C-can we really do that?” Sera’s voice was too low to be heard so the duke crouched down to hear her clearly. “Can we really go for a walk?”
Sera blushed. Somehow, she felt like a kid being given candy for the first time. Could anyone blame her? She never received any attention from the duke. Her life had been too short for her to witness her father’s warmth.
“Papa…” She covered her mouth when she realized that she blurted out something unnecessary. How dare her to say papa in front of the duke?
“What did you call me?”
Everyone’s eyes were on her. She felt like she would shrink anytime because of the pressure she felt from their eyes.
“I just blurted something that I heard from the streets.” She smiled awkwardly, hoping that the duke would buy her excuse. “Please don’t mind me.”
“No.”
Sera’s heart beat wildly when she heard the duke’s voice. Did she just raise a red flag unconsciously? What should she do? She should’ve just stayed quietly in her annex like before.
“Won’t you repeat those words for me?”
Sera’s eyes grew wide when she heard those words from him. Did he just ask her to call him papa again?
“Papa…” Though trembling, Sera did her best. If that’s the only way to survive, calling the duke papa would be a piece of cake!
She would do anything just to evade her death in the future. She wouldn’t sit still and wait for the verdict to come without doing anything.
“Can you repeat it again?”
Sera was getting confused by her father’s actions but she kept on doing what he asked. “Papa…”
“That’s right. I’m your papa so you don’t have to be afraid of me.”
“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
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