The Original Scene

It's dark, I can't see anything. Where am I?

I tried to walk around but I saw no ray of light.

"You called for me, Father?" I heard a small voice out of nowhere. It was calm and polite. I tried to follow the origin of the voice and in a blink of an eye, I saw a scene that looked familiar.

A little girl wearing a princess-like dress was standing in front of a man who was calmly sitting in his chair. The girl has her head lowered, as if trying to avoid the man's gaze. She has a glowing, white hair but I can't see her face clearly. The man, probably in his 20s or 30s, has red hair and his eyes shone like emeralds. His face looked serious and detached. Wait... This is...

"I heard that you broke a vase in the hallway?" A deep voice filled the place. I saw the little girl fumbling with her fingers and I can feel her nervousness. I tried to approach her and hold her hand but I can't move from my current position. They didn't seem to notice me here either.

Is this a memory of the real Yllaria? The real scene that should have happened to me?

"I-I'm sorry, Father." She answered in a shaky voice. I can tell that she's about to cry any minute now. I turned my gaze to the duke and I didn't expect his reaction. Instead of looking angry or annoyed, he looked worried for Yllaria. I saw him sigh before standing up from his chair and walk towards Yllaria. The little girl must have been really nervous that she started sobbing. I saw how the duke's expression turned more distressed when he heard Yllaria's sobs. He quickly embraced the little girl and tried to calm her.

What? I thought he'll hurt her or punish her. Not that I wanted it to happen, but this scene was different from the novel. What happened to the duke that made him hate this girl so much?

"Stop crying, Yllaria. I'm not going to hurt you." I scoffed with his words. Really, huh? He carried the little girl and sat on the couch that was on his office. Yllaria was sitting on his lap and she also stopped crying. The duke caressed her hair and hummed a soft tune. Yllaria looked at the duke's eyes and now, they're both smiling.

This scene... is making me crazy! If they're this close, why would the duke hurt her in the near future?

"You're not angry, Father?" Yllaria asked him. She looked so cute even though she cried. Damn, how can someone not melt after seeing that cute face? Looks like the duke can't help but also yield to her charms.

"I'm not, Yllaria. I just wanted to confirm if you really broke the vase and ask how you broke it." The duke's voice was as calm as a water in a lake. It sounded so different from his tone a while ago. His mood quickly changes, huh?

"I broke it because... I... tripped." Her voice went smaller as she continued talking that I can't hear her last word.

"You... tripped?" The duke asked her. Ah, tripped, huh? Though I'm guessing that she's lying. Maybe she got pushed by a servant, considering that they're bullying Yllaria at this time. She didn't answer, but just nodded.

"I think you're lying, but let's just say that I believe in you." The duke answered and Yllaria's cheeks turned red. I saw the duke smirk when he saw the little girl's reaction. Oh, that's what happens when she gets busted for her lies, huh?

"Father..." Yllaria whined. I heard the duke chuckled and messed up her hair. They stared at each other for a while then they both laughed. They got composed when they heard a knock on the door. I looked at the door's direction and saw a beautiful woman smiling, holding a teacup in her hand.

"Yves..." Her calm voice sounded so soothing. My eyes widened when I realized that this beautiful woman is Leanne Sedillon, Yllaria's adoptive mother. Gosh, she's also a beauty.

Fair and glowing skin. Round, almond eyes paired with a wavy, brown hair made her look like a nymph. As one could guess, Yves is the Sedillon here while Leanne married into the family. She also came from a noble family. She looked so kind and gentle and she had a calm presence. Are you sure this would be someone who'll hurt me in the future?

"Leanne. Why are you here?" I heard the duke's serious voice. When I turned to look at them, Yllaria wasn't sitting at the duke's lap anymore, she just sat beside him.

"I just wanted to look at the situation. I heard that you called for Yllaria." The duchess answered in a calm voice. She sat beside the duke and placed the teacup on the table that was in front of them. It looked a little awkward for some reason.

"I see. We're doing fine. I just asked her about the broken vase." The duke said and leaned on the couch. I looked at Yllaria and she looked nervous again. Was she feeling nervous whenever she sees her parents?

"Oh. So what happened there, Yllaria?" The duchess turned her gaze to the child who immediately avoided the duchess' gaze.

"I just tripped, Mother." Yllaria answered in a small voice. The duchess nodded and sighed before standing up.

"Ah. Be careful next time, okay?" The duchess said in a kind voice and the child just nodded. Leanne turned to the door and started walking away. Before opening the door, she turned back to the duke and Yllaria.

"Yves, try that tea from the East Empire. They sent that as a sign of their good will." She said and before the duke could answer, she left the room.

Wow, how brave.

The duke sighed before taking the teacup near his mouth. He smelled the aroma before drinking it. Yllaria was curiously staring at him as he drank the tea. I thought nothing would go wrong, but I was mistaken.

A dark smoke emerged from the tea and covered the duke's body. I gasped out of shock and I could see the horror in Yllaria's face. She looked too nervous to make any noise and the black smoke stayed there for almost ten seconds. After that, the smoke went inside the duke's body, as if it was trying to take over him. It looked like he was trying to fight it but he failed in the end.

The duke sat tiredly in the couch as he massaged his temple. Yllaria looked worried and climbed the couch and tried to call her father.

"Father?" Her tiny voice was full of concern. When the duke looked at her, I gasped when I saw his eyes. It was still emerald green, but it had black tint in some parts of his iris. It was scary because he looked colder and I can't feel his warm aura towards Yllaria anymore.

What the hell was with the tea that he drank? Did that duchess do this on purpose?

He glared at the little girl and Yllaria got frightened immediately. He pushed her and she fell to the floor, but the duke didn't care.

"Don't call me that." His cold voice gave me chills. It held no emotion, so different from his tone just a moment ago. "You're not my daughter." My eyes widened with this revelation. I looked at Yllaria but she looked shock and hurt with what he said. Her tears started to fall and she sobbed when the duke kicked her. He didn't hold back at all. Yllaria's small figure was brought to the side of the room and she curled her body like a fetus, a desperate attempt to protect herself.

The duke knelt in front of her and held her face tightly. I saw him smirk evilly and slapped the little girl's face. What the hell! I tried to move my body but I really can't do it! I tried speaking but my voice won't come out.

Let me help her!

I finally felt like I could move again but the scene started to fade. I tried to go near to them but before I could even take a step, everything turned dark again.

"From that day on, I experienced pain." I looked around to see the owner of that voice, but I started to lose my energy.

That scene... That was her memory, right?

Before I could even think about it deeper, I lost my consciousness.