3 My mother's portrait

We strolled towards my father's study without saying anything to each other. His valet, Baron Sanders, bent his head as he opened the door for us, and we entered. My father walked straight to his office chair, and I proceeded to his study sofa, while he gazed at me with his hands interlaced under his chin.

"What's the matter with you? Didn't you like today's performance, Eli?" My father inquired, a solemn expression on his face as he awaited my response.

I glanced at him with a grimace on my face, still enraged at him. How could he so casually make a joke about someone becoming my mother? "Was I meant to be pleased by the fact that you were being overly touchy with the countess right in front of me, papa?" I questioned him calmly.

After hearing my remark, he chuckled and went immediately to his study window, where he stood watching the raindrops dribble nicely on the window glass. "You know, when your mother died, my heart died as well," he said as he turned to face me, his hands crossed behind him. "I will never push someone into your life if you do not want them to be there. I'm simply glad you handled the countess so nicely, even if the show wasn't very lengthy. I felt a little letdown." He concluded with a grin. "I'm curious, how did you know about her affairs?"

"Well, I guessed, and based on her reaction, it turned out to be correct. You might have just moved her hand away from you, papa. Why did you put up with her flesh on yours and her strong perfume?"

"I knew you'd manage her, and you did." He stated this with a half-shrug. He then walked to his bookshelf and pulled out two volumes, which caused his bookcase to open. I was astounded and awed all at the same time. I had no idea my father's study held such a mystery. I grew more interested in discovering what was concealed beneath it.

"Follow me, Eli," he said as he went in behind the bookshelf, and I did. There were gold spiral steps that lead us down the mystery room, which piqued my interest in seeing what lay underneath. I closely followed my father till we arrived at a chamber that had been closed before us. My father pulled a key from his pocket and opened the door before we entered.

I had no idea that such a chamber existed in our Grand Ducal Palace. The walls were breezy blue with gold linings, and there was a Queen bed with two bedside drawers beside it, as well as a trunk, and the room was too tidy as if someone lived there, but who?

My father moved directly towards what appeared to be a covered wall, but there was actually something else hidden beneath the white sheets. Before turning to face me, my father lightly stroked the covers. He stood in front of whatever was covered with a sorrowful expression.

"Come here, Eli." He turned around to face me and spoke. "I need to show you something."

I approached my father and stood in front of the covered wall in front of us. Before returning to me, he diverted his eyes to the sheets and softly stroked them with his hand. "Could you kindly pull these sheets out for us, Eli?"

Before pulling the sheets, I laid my hands on them and felt them. There appeared to be a big picture frame behind them, and I slowly pushed them apart to reveal what was hiding behind them. What I saw astounded me.

It was a portrait of a fair-skinned, turquoise-eyed, blonde-haired woman, and I saw our grand-ducal coat of arms engraved on her ring, which she wore on her left hand's ring finger.

"Who is this, papa?"

My father smiled and stroked the portrait before responding to me. "Meet Aida Yeager Devensian...your mother, Eli."

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I had a long conversation with my father and realized I wanted to focus on something else. I walked straight to the training fields, stripped off my clothing, and stayed in the training clothes I had discreetly donned knowing I was alone. I had my own sword, so I took it out and began slashing the air. I was thrilled to see my mother's face for the first time in seventeen years, but I was also saddened since she had to die shortly after giving birth to me.

― "She adored you, Eli. I recall how she sobbed as she breathed her last breath, refusing to let go of you. She kept her sickness secret for a long time, only to reveal that it was incurable as soon as she gave birth to you. She was offered a choice before her sickness worsened."

― "What choice, papa?" As I clutched my father's hand, I inquired, concerned.

― My father looked at me, then immediately opened his arms and hugged me while stroking my hair. "Her only chance of survival, my dear, Eliana, was to abort you."

Tears clouded my vision as I swung my blade. I couldn't stop thinking about what my father had said to me. It kept ringing in my brain that I wasn't concentrating adequately on my swinging. I had no clue I was the cause of my mother's death all that time, all those years.

I was swinging my sword fiercely when I sensed some movement close and proceeded to check who it was. I saw Sir Reiner, one of our knights who graduated from the knight academy at an early age and swore an oath to my father, His Grace the Grand Duke of the Yesian Empire, Matthew Devensian.

I couldn't take my gaze away from his chest while he was training alone and without a shirt. I approached him carefully and hid behind one of the trees near him.

"Oh, it's you, Lady Eliana," he replied, continuing swinging his sword and without looking around to see who was hidden behind the tree. That shocked me since he had such acute senses that he didn't take long to detect who was hidden.

"How did you figure out it was me? I expressed my surprise. "Is it possible you have eyes on the back of your head?" I came out of concealment and approached him. He wore his mahogany hair pulled back with a straw rope and maintained his customary solemn demeanour. I'm quite sure I'd never seen this man grin before.

"It's simple to tell who's approaching me, and in your case, I'm used to both your heavy breathing and footsteps. Don't forget about the mint perfume you always wear."

"Did you just say my footsteps are heavy?" I was irritated by his remark. "How dare you, Sir Reiner!"

"It's not my fault you don't walk like a lady. Why are you upset with me for stating the obvious?" He gave a brief shrug as he bent to pick up his scabbard, which was lying on the grass.

"I must strike you today for your rudeness to me," I said, pulling out a wooden sword given to me by my father.

Sir Reiner turned to face me, and after a brief moment of silence, burst out laughing. He had a beautiful body that he worked hard to maintain. His tanned ivory skin gleamed from the light reflecting off his sweat. He didn't have a bad appearance; he just lacked manners. I looked to be a child confronting a giant due to our height mismatch.

"Please put that toy away, Lady Eliana. Why would you bother training with me when you can hardly lift a genuine sword?"

He turned back and picked up his shirt, which was hanging from one of the trees, before starting to walk away from me. I was not shocked when he spoke back to me. He was a year older than me and had gotten into the habit of being too casual with me whenever we were alone.

I followed him behind, pouting my lips, fully forgetting that I wasn't wearing my dress and was only wearing my training clothes. Sir Reiner kept going without looking back at me until he came to a wooden water barrel and began washing himself. With his solemn look and demeanour, he was rather attractive. He would be an ideal husband choice if it weren't for his nasty demeanour.

He then shook his head sideways in an attempt to minimize the amount of water in his hair. I cocked my head to the side, trying to shield my face from the water spraying from his head. He then turned to face me as he passed me by while putting on his shirt. His clothing absorbed water droplets from his torso, demonstrating his muscularity. I couldn't take my eyes off him, and I nearly forgot why I had followed him behind. What could I possibly do? It's not my fault that I've always had a fascination for tall, attractive, well-built men.

"You're still here, Lady Eliana?"

"I still have an issue with you, Sir Reiner. You were being impolite to me and should apologize." My face was totally flushed when I stated this. He was far too attractive, and I wondered why I hadn't become accustomed to his appearance despite the fact that we had known one other for a long time.

I observed a small shift in his typical face as he glanced at me. "Are you sure you're all right, Lady Eliana?"