The Duke's Family

I was contemplating on my situation right now when the door to my room opened once more. Now I see a couple coming inside with worried expressions.

'Looks like this is Duke Broderick and his wife the duchess.' I thought.

The couple are still quite young to my surprise. They look like in their mid thirties.

'They are in my age bracket but there looks are a big difference to my past look.' I sighed sadly.

The duke looked quite handsome with his jet black hair and dark blue eyes like the depths of the ocean. The duchess on the other hand had the same silver hair and amethyst eyes like me. Her beauty was outstanding.

"My daughter, you are awake at last." The duke said with a worried expression.

"Oh my sweet baby, I'm so happy that you have woken up." The duchess was shedding tears.

Both of them are at my bedside looking very worried about me. I on the other hand felt guilty. I am not their real daughter. Well technically, I am residing in their daughter's body but the soul inside has departed and my soul came to reside in it.

'What will I do? What will I tell them?' I thought. The couple looked much more worried when they saw me just staring at them and not speaking.

"Alyssa do you feel pain any where?" The duchess was very worried.

"Fetch the doctor this instant!" The duke ordered.

"Yes my lord." The butler that was standing behind them bowed down and hurriedly left the room.

"Tell me dear are you hurt somewhere?" The duke looked at me with worried eyes.

"W-Who are you?" I muttered.

Because this was sudden, I only thought of the most common thing that happens when you had a head injury, amnesia. Seeing that my head hurts and it was bandaged, I concluded that the original Alyssa had a head injury that maybe cost her life. And because I do not have any knowledge about the character 'Alyssa' and the people around her, it is best to play that I lost my memories. It is the best possible way for me.

"Oh my God, Elessar. Our baby girl..." The duchess was in shock when she heard my question.

"Calm down Jenica." The duke calmly patted his wife to calm her down. "Alyssa, you don't remember any of us here?"

I looked around and saw the maids and the couple. At the end I shook my head. I wasn't lying, I don't really know any of them.

"Then do you remember your own name?" The duke asked again. I shook my head again.

"But you called me Alyssa." I looked at the duke with a blank expression. "Is that my name?" I asked curiously. The duke nodded.

"Yes, you are Alyssa Yvonne Broderick. You are our only daughter." The duchess was shedding tears. "Oh Chris what happened to our precious baby girl?"

The duke was comforting his crying wife. "Let's wait for the doctor okay."

Not long an old male doctor arrived. "Greetings duke and duchess." He bowed down.

"Doctor please look at our daughter." The duchess pleaded the doctor.

"Of course my lady." The old doctor said. The couple gave way and the doctor was now on my bed side. He opened his bag and took a stethoscope and other materials to check on me.

The old doctor took out my bandages and looked at my head. Maybe he was assessing the damage. After that he put some medicine and applied new bandages.

"Young miss, how did you feel when you first woken up?" The doctor asked.

"My head hurts and it felt a little woozy." I told him the truth.

"Tell me, what can you remember. Anything that comes to your mind." The doctor said.

I only shook my head. "Nothing. Nothing comes to my mind. It feels all... blank I guess." I replied.

"Oh Elessar." I see the dutchess was burying her face on the dukes chest. The duke was patting her back gently to comfort her.

The doctor sighed and stood up. He faced the couple.

"I am afraid that the impact on her head had made a damage to her brain that made her forget all of her memories." The old doctor explained. "Her physical injury is healing nicely but I am afraid that her brain had recieved damage."

"Tell us doctor, what can we do?" The duke asked worriedly. I can hear the duchess sobbing on his chest.

"There had been some similar cases such as this that I have seen before. Some had their memories come back after some time but others..." The doctor shook his head.

The duke's face crumpled in pain. He looked my way with pain in his eyes.

'I am sorry to deceive you.' I simply apologized in my heart. But if I tell them that their real daughter is gone now then they will be more devastated.

They looked like good people. And so I decided to be their daughter starting today.

"If you like, I can refer you to a more knowledgable specialist that can handle this medical case. He is a young doctor but a genius if I may say." The old doctor said.

"Thank you doctor. That would help us a lot." The duke said. "Jenica, stay with Alyssa. I will see the doctor out."

The duchess nodded and the duke left with the old doctor.

The duchess sat down next to me and held my hand gently.

"How are you feeling my baby girl?" The duchess asked.

"I-I think I am doing fine." I said shyly. I can feel the motherly love coming from the duchess. "Umm... then can I call you mommy?" I asked.

The duchess looked surprised with what I said.

"I-Is calling you that not good?" I asked. "Should I call you 'mother'?" I didn't know the customs of old english noblemen. Maybe the more formal 'mother' is more appropriate.

Well this world has a setting of old english nobility and I only know a few things from that era from the novels that I have read.

"No, of course you can call me that." The duchess beamed with a smile. "Call me mommy."

"M-Mommy." I felt rather shy hearing myself. My voice is of a child once more.

"Oh my Alyssa." The duchess, now my mother, hugged me gently.

'Knock knock'

"Come in." My mother said.

The door opened and a boy maybe ten years of age came in. He had a striking resemblance with the duke who is my father.

'Oh yes I remember, one of the love interest of the heroine is a duke's son. Then maybe he is my brother?' I thought.

"Mother, I heard that Alyssa has woke up. May I come and greet her." The boy was rather dashing in his young age. What else if he grows up.

But he was wearing a frown on his face and looked rather cold. He would look much better if he smiled.

My mother who was holding me stiffened when the boy called him mother. I looked at my mother and her face had a forced smile on it.

'Am I reading this correctly?' I thought. 'Maybe this boy isn't the duchess' son. So is he the son of the duke from an affair?'

"Of course you can Eric." My mother said. "Then I will leave you two here. I will go and get something to eat for your sister."

My mother stood up and smiled at me. She walked elegantly and passed by my so called brother Eric.

The young boy walked towards with maintaining his cold aura. He looked at me scornfully.

'This is rather awkward.' I thought. 'Did the original Alyssa do something bad to this young boy to give me this cold aura. I can feel his hate emitting.' I shivered.

I know that being a villainess, Alyssa might have had a bad attitude. With the maids being frightened with me a while ago, I concluded that the original Alyssa might have been such a bad little lady.

"H-Hello." I greeted.

Eric was surprised with my greeting.

"Um... are you my brother?" I asked with curious eyes.