Chapter 15: Chapter XV

Duchess

I sat down on the chair closest to me and sighed. Am I just doomed to die? If anyone finds that page with incorrigible letters and words, there’s bound to be chaos, and that’ll lead to me being the owner. I need to hide this notebook for now at least.

 

The person who took the page, will end up coming to me or one of Astelle’s family members. Please come to me, don’t be a coward and face me I thought to myself, praying that this person is trustworthy.  

 

“My lady! There you are!” I jumped up from my seat and hid the notebook behind my back. It was Eve, she sped towards me, “My lady, the Duchess of Calypso requests your appearance,”  

 

I nodded to her, “I’ll be there shortly, I must do something as of now, so please request to them that they be patient,” Eve paled, “My lady I can’t tell the ladyship and lordships that they be patient,”

 

“Just say I requested it, I’ve never seen them right away, have I?” I raised my eyebrow at her. She nodded meekly and sped away the same way she entered.  

 

Weird, was she always that... jittery? Ah, I remember she said that the Calypso’s had a problem with Marianne, so she fears the same fate is hers.

 

Then I must hurry, in case of such a thing happening. I marched back to my room with the elegance of a butterfly. Though, my head was a raging dragon, I could care less about the guests we have now.

 

I hid the notebook in the closest drawer to my bed. I turned around to leave my room and jumped at Eve, who was there behind me. “Couldn’t you have made me aware of your presence, Eve?!” I scolded her while holding my chest to calm down my fast heartbeat.

 

“M-my lady, they request for you,” Eve stuttered out. Once again, she’s as pale as a sheet. I scoffed and went toward her.

 I grabbed her trembling shoulders and looked her in the eye, “Besides from me, no one can tell you to go away, I will request Marianne back too and she can stay while they are here, so please settle yourself, Eve,”  

 

She calmed down significantly and smiled, “yes, thank you, my lady,” and she led the way once again.

 

She knocked on the door to the Blue Room to announce my arrival. “Ah! There’s my little Astelle! Come, come, sit with me,” the Duchess smiled at me and patted the spot next to her.

 

Now, obviously I don’t want to sit with her, I’d much rather sit with my brother, but the spot next to that spot is Elliot and I don’t want to sit with him, so I reluctantly sit beside the duchess.  

  

She smiled brightly at me, but I can’t help but feel unnerved around her, it's as if she’s pretending to be sweet even though I already know she’s not a bad person. She was always sweet to me.  

 

To me? I’ve just met her, what is going on in my head? My eyebrows furrowed as I entered internal conflict. Something that has been happening very often since I’ve been reborn here.  

 

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I felt a touch to my temple, and I reacted to relax my eyebrows.

 

“Dear, it’s not good to have such a serious face, you’ll receive creases and wrinkles faster that way,” the Duchess smiled at me as she took back her hand and rested it on her lap.

 

I looked at her and nodded, knowing that smiling back was not an option, her smile faltered at that, and I knew from her eyes that she expected more. “Shall we ladies take a walk to the garden?” She asked out of nowhere and caught the attention of everyone there.  

 

Duke Asterion nodded, “Of course, you are more than welcome too,” he said kindly. The Duchess smiled and bowed slightly. She signalled for me to get up and I did so instantly. Bowing myself, she walked towards the door, and I followed.  

 

There were her own two maids escorting us there, even if this was my house. She chatted about random things, and I replied by nodding, yes and short answers of the like.  

 

“Ah! Yes, I remembered something!” The duchess exclaimed out of nowhere, making me flinch at the sudden rise of volume. “Yes, Duchess?” I responded, more confused than a reply is supposed to be.

 

“That maid, the one who said we be patient, can you replace her?” The lady smiled at me as if she was asking me such a simple thing. “Pardon, Duchess? You mean to say I replace the maid, Eve?” I asked again at her ridiculous question. “She dared to tell me and her masters to be patient, isn’t that hilarious?”  

 

Is... she backhandedly saying, “How dare you say be patient to me?” Since I was the one who requested that. Ah, this is the problem with rich people. They don’t see the people below them as humans.  

 

Disgusting. I looked the Duchess in the eyes, “Duchess, with all due respect, only I can control who are by my side and who aren’t, and as of now, I only see someone who’s too far up in her fantasy to see the world below,” hearing these words in my voice and seeing her face grow worse by each word I say, I was scared but at the same time, I felt elated.

 

This felt like something I always wanted to say and saying it has lifted a weight of my chest. “You-you dare say I-“  

 

“With respect, yes,” I kept looking her in the eyes, with the serenity and elegance Astelle will always carry. While her eyes screamed anger and fury.

“Nothing you said carried respect!” She yelled in the middle of the garden. Some servants and maids that were out looked in our direction.

 

“I truly hope you think about this, Duchess, you were someone important to me once, when I was younger, I looked up to you, but seeing you now without any fog covering them, I see the real you and wish to see you as someone important again,” I told her all of what I thought and all of how Astelle saw her as, bowed and walked away.

 

The Duchess of the Calypso house stood there, looking at the back of Astelle. She wanted to yell out to her, but she was too... shook.

 

‘What happened to this girl?’ Thought the Duchess.

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