Chapter 8: Trust Issues II

“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 attention to be a burden. Wasn’t it fine to feel uneasy about something that one would not usually do?

Though Sera was filled with anxiety, she just went with the flow and let Mary do her job of preparing her for the audience with her father. Her thoughts wandered around while the maid was brushing her hair. She couldn’t stop thinking about the what-ifs and the possible things that could go wrong while she was in there.

“Mary, would you aid me in my escape if something were to happen?” She asked as she was planning her possible escape in her head. “I’ve been keeping valuable things under my bed, you should take it if ever I needed to escape.”

“What are you talking about, my lady?” Mary laughed but deep inside she was worried. Why would the young and innocent lady think of horrible things that might happen to her? Why would she need to escape? Did she do something wrong?

Mary looked at her lady’s expression from the mirror. Though she was just a young girl, she seemed much more mature than her age. There were some times when she felt like she was talking to someone just a little younger than her.

“Do I really have to go there?” Sera trembled slightly at the thought of the main house. Her last memory of that house was when she was killed by her brother. Though she came back to the past, how could she be sure that nothing would go wrong?

“My lady, should I just inform the duke that you are not feeling well?” Mary asked in a worried tone when she noticed how Sera turned pale and trembled.

Sera paused as she thought about it. What if the duke was offended by her absence? No matter what her choice would be, she could end up offending the duke and end her life earlier than expected.

She took a deep breath and smiled though her lips trembled a little. “I guess I’ll be fine.”

Mary looked at her lady for a while. When she noticed that she became determined after wavering at first, she nodded her head and escorted her to the main house.

“You called for me, your grace?” Sera said as soon as she entered the duke’s office. She was just inside with a few steps and she stopped after that, afraid that the duke didn’t want her near.

She looked around as it was her first time to see the duke’s office. Even though she was the duke’s daughter, she never had the chance to be inside his office in her past life.

The room seemed dark because of the dark-colored furniture and the wall was also colored gray. She noticed that the only furniture present was the necessary ones despite it being the room that the duke mostly used.

Did he spend all his time seated at that chair and facing all those documents?

“Take a seat, daughter.”

Sera felt as if she heard him wrong. Did he just call her daughter? Was it another ploy to keep her here since she tried to escape last time? Her father must’ve been wary that she would take the crown prince’s offer to leave the estate. If the world found out about her, the duke’s reputation would be tarnished, he would be recorded in the history of Fiore at the same time because he was the only one who had a daughter in the Fiore bloodline.

Though confused, Sera took the seat across the duke. He ordered the maid to give her a cup of tea and she gladly took it. She was relieved that she wasn’t trembling anymore but her heart was still beating like crazy out of nervousness.

Nothing would happen, right?

Sera took a sip from the tea to calm herself. She felt so awkward because the duke was blatantly staring at her as if she was something interesting to watch.

“Why did you call for me, your grace?”

The duke frowned. The man who only showed a serious expression to almost everyone just frowned in front of her! Did she unconsciously raise a red flag for him to show her such an expression?

She looked down, her hand started trembling again as she felt afraid of what might happen. Would they imprison her or would she die immediately like before?

“That’s not how you should call me, Seraphina.”

She looked at him and then look away right after meeting his gaze. What did he mean by that? Did he despise her so much that he didn’t want her to address him directly? Then what should she call him?

“Never mind,” the duke said when he noticed that she was deep in thought. “Have you received the document?”

“Yes, I did,” Sera answered politely. “Thank you for your generosity to put a bastard child like me in the family register.”

“Sera…” It was the duke’s warning tone. “Did you know how to read?”

Sera shook her head slowly. Because it was already her second life, Sera already knew how to read. However, since she went back at that time when she was just a ten-year-old girl from the slums, she couldn’t just tell them that she was literate.

The duke sighed as he stood up and went to his desk. He took a paper from inside one of the drawers and went back to sit across her.

“This is your name…” the duke showed her a document and her eyes almost fell down when she saw what was written.

“Seraphina Alexandria von Fiore, that is your new name,” the duke added.

Sera couldn’t believe what she has just seen. Did she just receive a name that means defender just like her father and brother’s names?

“W-why?” She was lost for words. Those things never happened in her past life! How should she take such honor?

“I thought of changing your name to Alexandria but the duchess told me that you might be sad if I erased the name that your mother gave you.” The duke looked at her for a while before he continued, “Did you like your new name?”

She slowly nodded. Was it a part of his plan? She couldn’t stop herself from being suspicious. How could she trust that what he was doing was out of the kindness of his heart?