“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.
“Hey!”
Sera felt a hand that slightly but forcefully pushed her. Was she trying to wake her up? She almost laughed. How could she forget that only Mary cared for her in that house? Since she had been with Mary most of the time, she forgot about the contempt that the other servants of the Fiore Manor showed towards her.
“Hey, I told you to wake up!” The maid pushed Sera with a bit more force and they were both shocked when Sera came rolling down the floor.
“My lady!” Mary, who just entered the room shouted when she saw what happened. “Why did you push her?” She turned to the maid who went pale after seeing how Sera fell from her bed.
“Mary, lower your voice. People might think that I am overreacting from falling off a bed.”
“But my lady—”
“See? The lady didn’t mind it so don’t make a mess out of a trivial situation.” The maid suddenly acted so proudly when she thought that Sera was just a powerless bastard who wouldn’t budge even after being mistreated.
“What’s your name?” Sera asked the maid as soon as she recovered herself from the fall.
“My name is Bella, Miss.” The maid said with a smirk.
Sera could laugh at how insolent Bella was. Did she think that she could get away after disrespecting a noble lady?
The law of the empire cared about the nobles more than the others. Did she think that she wasn’t counted as a noble just because she was an illegitimate child?
“Mary?” She turned to Mary with gentle yet authoritative eyes.
Though she had been imprisoned in the annex during her past life, Sera had been taught about noble etiquette, culture, and laws. She knew just how to carry herself as a noble lady of a ducal house.
“Yes, my lady?”
“What was the reason that you came here?” She asked when she remembered that her maid would bring a piece of important news that day.
“Yes, I almost forgot.” Mary’s face lit up when she realized what she was talking about. “I came here to bring you the papers about your legitimacy. The Duke already added you in the family registry, so you are officially Seraphina von Fiore from today onwards.”
Bella’s eyes grew wide but she clenched her fists, signifying that she wouldn’t back down. “So what? Do you think the people in this manor would acknowledge you?” She shouted. “No matter what your name will be, you are still a bastard child!”
Sera was about to say something but the door opened loudly and it showed an angry Alexandrei. His brows were furrowed as he walked towards them.
“What did you just say?” Andrei said with a serious yet deadly voice.
“Y-young master… I was just telling the young lady to know her place since she was acting arrogant.” Bella tried to reason out but her hand trembled at the presence of the duke’s second son.
“Who’s teaching who about whom’s place, maid?” Andrei smirked. “Did you just teach my sister, the duke’s noble daughter her place?”
Sera didn’t expect him to take her side. She sighed when she thought that the issue would be bigger because Andrei intervened, but she somehow felt relieved because she wouldn’t have to punish the maid herself.
“Y-young master…”
“Hah!” Andrei let out a gasp-like sigh. “I couldn’t believe that the maids here are so arrogant to spout such nonsense to my sister.”
Sera wanted to scoff. Was it a noble’s pride? He couldn’t bear to hear people talking bad about his family that he would be willing to take her side even though he despised her?
“What are you standing there for?” Andrei looked at the maid who was dumbfounded by Andrei’s attitude.
She thought that the young master would take her side but she was wrong. She immediately bowed and left the room before Andrei could think of something worse to punish her.
“You didn’t have to do that…” Sera paused as he looked at her brother. “…I could handle it myself.”
“Handled it yourself?” Andrei scoffed. “You couldn’t even earn the respect of your own attendants. I’ll tell father to bring in a teacher for you.”
“There’s no need for th—“
“Seraphina von Fiore.” Andrei cut her off. “From now on, that’s your name. As a member of this family, you too must uphold the dignity of this duchy.”
She knew those things very well and she wouldn’t even refuse it. She just didn’t want to hear that she was a demanding child who sought a teacher as soon as she was added to the family registry. Just what would the duke think if Andrei suddenly asked for her to be educated right after she received the news?
She knew that everyone had the mindset that she should be grateful to the duke for taking her in, but she couldn’t. She lived her life as a caged daughter and she died right after being accused of murder. Anyone in her shoe would feel the same thing. How could she be grateful to the people who didn’t only reject her but also killed 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
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