Chapter 60

"Tell me how have you been, little sister." Veronica didn't like wasting time exchanging pleasantries, and her sister knows that. Her words are clear without further explanation. 'tell me what happened.'

" I have been well." Verena smiled enthusiastically. "I actually feel much better after seeing you and your lovely family."

" oh, really?" does she take her for a fool?"I see."

Veronica reached out to her sister's left cheek and applied some pressure. Verena hissed in pain, then tried to avoid her hand and quickly concealed her pained expression. "you hid it quite well, sister. I almost didn't notice."

Veronica hated when people lied to her the most. A polite straightforward person is better for conversations. "it looks new...last night?"

Verena didn't say anything. Her confidence always gets shaken by only one person, her older sister. At times like this...staying quiet is her best option.

"Aurelia was there, too?... You used the pill...Must have been quite lively." at Verena's continuous silence, Veronica clicked her tongue. "I will take care of it."

That's what Verena feared, but expected. "don't tell father..."

Despite Veronica's frostbite-like personality, she's very defensive about who she cares about. Her miserable past shaped her to be that way, hard to approach with high spiky walls. After she accepted someone inside her impossibly high walls, her life mission would be to protect them from any harm.

"please, don't tell father." she repeated with a pleading tone. No one knew her family as well as she did. If her father caught wind of it, his heart won't rest until all ties were cut with Duke Veritas. Divorce would be issued, and he would fight for custody over the children in front of the emperor if he had to.

As matters stand, Veritas isn't in a good place to be. He wouldn't be any better than a commoner after her father is done with him. Wherever her father's wrath is directed, the place will be left as nothing but ashes the gentle breeze can blow away easily.

The grand Duke felt guilty after knowing what hardships they faced in their childhood while he was away, so he promised to make up for it and never let anything inconvenience them. Veritas affair already angered him, and he gave the Duke a cold shoulder after he treated him like his own son. If he knew what he did to his little daughter, treating him coldly won't be enough. Best case scenario, the Duke lives in one piece and carries an ignoble existence.

The soft-hearted Verena didn't want her children to grow up knowing what their grandfather did to their father. She wanted them to live an ordinary lavish life like the rest of the nobles.

"don't worry much. When did I ever fail you?"

At least, Verena felt assured.

"of course, you have to tell me everything in order for me to be able to help you properly." Verena's crestfallen face didn't faze her older sister. "Verena... I am your older sister. Your strength and support. Just take me as your second mother and tell me... How else can I help you without hurting my lovely nieces and nephews?"

At her rare tender tone, and her warm hands supporting her shoulders, Verena finally opened up to her with an easy heart. She told her everything, Victoria and her troubles, the Duke, Aurelia's unofficial debut, Vincente and his studies and tuition.

She let everything weighing on her heart out, because she knew her sister would take care of it. She always did. A grateful smile with sad eyes slowly spread on her face, enough for thousands of pent up feelings to pour out silently.

—"sister, I will take care of it."

Verena remembered a locked memory hidden in the deepest corners of her brain. A little seven-year-old girl with red swollen palms muffleing her sobs in the corner of the freezing stables. She hid and cried for hours until someone found her. And it was none other than her reliable sister.

"but, but she will hit me again..." she whimpered and hid her hot eyes in her painful scorching palms with frozen-numb fingertips. "I-I didn't me-memorize all the manners...*sniff*"

"don't worry, sister." she pat her head affectionately. " will take care of it."

It wasn't until later when her sister came back tired, did it finally dawn on her. Her sister continued her days as usual, but Verena couldn't forget secretly seeing the evident marks and bruises on her back, and that's when she realized what she meant.

—" I'm sorry. I am so sorry." she whispered under her breath every day until their father returned.

"I am sorry."

"there's no reason for apologies." her sister sipped tea nonchalantly, oblivious to how much her sister knew of the past. She gave her the pill to swallow, but Verena gave it to her daughter instead. "take this cream. It hurts, but it won't leave any scars."

She handed her a tiny box, small enough to be held by her fingertips.

"thank you."

"we are family. We don't say thank you." Veronica's smiling eyes betrayed her emotionless tone, and concealed the dark storms swirling in them.

To the servants who walked in to report the grand Duke's arrival, the atmosphere seemed to be peaceful from the moment they left till now. Whatever it was, their job is to serve their master, not to meddle in their affairs.

*****

Victoria, on the other side, slumped by the fountain, dying of boredom. Obviously, it's much warmer inside, but the cruel family, or rather, the heartless aunt Veronica, said, "the grand Duke's mansion has always maintained its cleanliness, hasn't it?"

She looked at Victoria from under her pointy nose in disgust, expressing that the mansion was too clean for a piece of filth to be allowed to taint its holy grounds. She threw her words and left, leaving behind the nervous servants scrambling to fulfill her coded commands.

Victoria rubbed her hands together and longed for the warmth and freshness inside the indoor garden with glass walls. She could witness the harmonious atmosphere from afar, but its warmth didn't reach her, only wind's frosty glare nibbled at her fingers.

The older man, called 'uncle Archer', played chess with Aurelia and ordered the kitchen to make her something to drink.

"ah! It's not bitter!" Aurelia expressed her delight and savored the sweet drink warming her inside.

"of course, I asked them to make something as sweet as our little Aurelia."

"thank you, my throat feels so much better!"

He laughed. "really? That's good, because...checkmate."

"huh?... That's not fair!" she pouted cutely. "you are supposed to let me win!"

"ha ha ha. You can't always expect others to hand you victories, you must fight in battle. "

On the opposite side of the indoor garden, the teen they called 'Aramis' let Victor play with toys and kept pinching Ilaria's cheeks, who organized a puzzle game with 'Asher'.

"look at your cheeks, they got so small !" he teased Ilaria, who kept swatting his hand away." aw, they are no fun. Victor's cheeks are so full, look, they are jiggly."

Servants lined up behind them, ready to serve. She thought they were like robots at first, except their every movement was flawless and smooth, not stiff, like they had been trained for their jobs for decades. It wouldn't be too surprising if they were.

Unlike servants at the Duke's household, which some were as young as fourteen, like, Bessie, the servants here were all professional adults, both good looking and competent. They weren't as emotionless as she thought they were, because they smiled at the harmonious atmosphere, friendly to everyone else. They only treated her, and her alone, coldly with darkened expressions.

Feeling unwelcomed, she walked away from the joyous laughter of everyone else.

"aah!"

She paused to look back.

"Ilaria! Let go!" Aramis struggled to pull his wrist out of Ilaria's teeth. "bad meanie! Bad."

"you deserved it." she turned up her nose with a triumphant smile. Everyone laughed and made fun of Aramis.

"that's true. You shouldn't have pinched her cheek." Archer laughed as well.

"I won't take you to pick mushrooms tomorrow! Hmph! "

Amidst their laughter and funny banter, no one noticed Victoria slipping away, except for one maid. "is something the matter, miss Victoria?"

Victoria thought she cared, but her tone was too dry to be so. "no, I just wanted to take a stroll."

" the entrance to the grand Duke's mansion is very spacious and open. "Don't tell me it's not up to your standards, bastard child." it is also fresh with a lot of trees." you can have fresh air there." and the carriage will be ready soon, it's better if you are present when the time comes. "

" uh... "the servant didn't leave her space to argue." I was feeling a bit hungry. " yes, the kitchen will be warmer.

The maid raised her eyebrow." the kitchen provides at least twenty types of snacks and five brands of tea. Soft, crispy, sweet, bland, spicy, hot, or cold are served. If it's not enough, please tell me your preference so I can ask the cooks to make you something suitable to your taste. "

" I don't think they know of it. " Victoria internally sneered. Yes, the grand Duke's mansion has snacks of all sorts and types, but not a single cracker was tossed her way.

" if our top chefs –who rival the imperial chefs– aren't able to make the so-called dish you describe them, we will send someone to the market to purchase it in record time. " she lied. Her only instruction was to keep that dirty kid in place, not feed her.

Wow. She has to give it to her, she is good. She left Victoria nothing to complain about. Even if she is young, she could work as a housekeeper in another noble household. She can even work at the imperial palace if she wants!

" thank you. I will just wait here then." it appears she will be forced to endure the cold while she is still week, though one day, she will grow up to be powerful enough that nobody will dare to look down on her or treat her less than the respect she deserves. She truly hopes so.