Chapter 11

The carriage traveled a long way until it began to slow down in front of the Dehsin family castle.

Esther, as soon as she saw him – a castle of staggering size – was instantly petrified by his beauty.

Although there was almost nothing at the entrance to the castle, the girl still stared out of the carriage window with all her eyes, snatching every detail of the castle's furnishings.

The carriage passed another large market filled with a huge number of people and shops, and a minute later drove into a garden immersed in silence.

'How far will we go?' – while Esther was trying to pull herself together, the carriage finally stopped.

The girl's heart started beating fast again when she noticed that they had arrived at the Grand Duke's residence.

– I'll help you, –Ben said, opening the carriage door.

Esther carefully got down from the carriage, carefully stepped onto the grass and looked around.

'Is this the house I'm going to live in now?'

There were many statues in front of the huge mansion. Even the fountain looked no worse than in their huge temple.

The girl, who saw such a mansion for the first time, felt her body weaken.

'I think I'm the only one who doesn't fit into this place.…

People from the Grand Duke's family are very different from the one who spent her whole life crawling on the bottom as the girlfriend of someone more significant…'

– Take a closer look, – strong hands are gently light on the shoulders of the frozen Esther. –This is your home from now on.

The Duke's hands were so warm that the girl could not push them away.

'House… My house…

I've never had it, no matter how much I want it, so... so I don't need a home and a family... do I?' – for a moment, Esther was very confused.

'But time outside the temple may be my golden opportunity. Maybe this is my last chance to die…

...but I want to have my family, my home... even for a very short time! At least for a few days!.. At most for a few months… Isn't that normal?'

– I…

– Let's go inside, – Darwin nodded his head to the girl, who was already ready to burst into tears, at the door of the mansion.

Esther nodded and slowly entered the mansion with Duke Dehsin.

The exquisite interior and the beautiful paintings hanging everywhere caught the eye. The girl walked ahead of the Duke and thought that there would be no end to the pictures around.

The butler, Talbert, who was waiting for them to appear, immediately went to greet them. This gray–haired man was a member of a family that had served the Grand Duke's family devotedly for many years.

– Did your trip go well? – having received a letter about Esther in advance, Talbert was not surprised to see a little girl next to Darwin.

– Yes. Where are Judy and Dennis?

– They're gone, but they should be back soon.

Listening to the conversation between them, the girl excitedly squeezed her fingers.

'Soon I will meet the Grand Duke's twin sons...' – thinking about this, Esther was scared again. Their family is one of the purest in blood…

'No matter how well the Duke treats me, I and his sons are on completely different steps…

He bought me clothes, talks to me, looks me in the eye, and treats me kindly, making me feel like his real daughter…

How glad I would be if I could really call him father... if I don't try to trust this man, I'll feel like a snake…

...No, what a fool I am.'

Darwin seemed to sense that Esther's mood had suddenly changed, and stopped:

– What happened?

– Nothing. I'm just a little confused.

The Duke nodded, deciding that he understood the girl's condition:

– Don't worry, you'll get used to it after a while, – without guessing what was on Esther's mind, Darwin led her up the stairs. – First of all, you need to decide which room you will live in now.

Darwin occupied the second floor of the mansion, the twins occupied the fourth, and the Duchess used to live on the third floor, but now it was empty.

Also, several rooms were set aside for storage for works of art, but the Duke, having decided to bring Esther to the mansion, ordered the head maid in advance to put everything in order.

Climbing the spiral staircase to the third floor, the girl saw a long corridor in front of her. Five rooms zigzagged along the corridor. Pausing at the beginning of this corridor, Darwin cast a brief glance at the doors of the rooms and looked at Esther:

– The whole floor is now at your disposal.

– In mine? – Esther asked, startled.

– Yes. Except for the last locked room.

Darwin was kind, but there was confusion in the girl's eyes.

'It was enough to just give me any room, even without giving me a choice...' – all this turned out to be too difficult for Esther, who had never been given the right to choose before. 'What should I do?..'

While the girl hesitated, someone started to climb the stairs.

All eyes, including the Duke's, instantly turned towards the stairs.

The footsteps grew louder, but abruptly stopped at about the bottom of the third floor.

– Is that Judy?

Judy was the only one in this mansion who could cause such a commotion.

Soon, at the other end of the corridor, as everyone expected, Judy appeared. He was suffocating from running fast.

– Father! – the boy found the Duke with his eyes and called him loudly. Judy's face was overflowing with joy at meeting her father, who had been away for a long time.

However, a second later, the boy abruptly stopped running and froze in place. All because he finally noticed the girl standing next to Darwin.

– Ha? – crossing his arms over his chest and tilting his head to the side, Judy began to study the unknown girl with curiosity and alertness. – Father, who is this?

Unlike the Duke's low voice, the boy's voice sounded clear and sonorous. However, when he spoke in such a strangely cold tone, he became like his father, whom he imitated.

The girl shrugged at Judy's question. She felt like she had sinned, even though she hadn't done anything wrong.

Illegal ballast – anyone would think so if his father brought a child from somewhere.

For some reason, one of the Grand Duke's twins could not behave with dignity as the son of a great man.

– Judy, what's the way of speech? Darwin scolded his son instantly, because he knew that Esther was very tense.

–What's the big deal? – Who is it? Judy pouted because he felt guilty about his father. The boy didn't like being around a child he didn't even know.

Judy was sulking angrily at Esther. The boy wanted to scare her, but the Duke quickly caught him, and the boy could only roll his eyes.

'Judy...' – Darwin mentally sighed. 'I was going to introduce Esther to them when Dennis came too, but it looks like I'm going to have to tell Judy first.'

– Say hello, it's your sister, – said the man who made the decision.

Judy, hearing this, dropped the firecracker he was holding on the floor.

– It's strange, my ears seem to be clean, – the boy drawled, checking his ears and not even thinking about picking up a firecracker. When Judy realized that he had not misheard, he instantly frowned.

– You heard right. This is your sister, – Darwin calmly confirmed the truth.

Judy, who was stunned by this fact, went berserk and immediately snorted, continuing to keep a gloomy expression on his face:

– Really?

– Yes.

– Father, – the boy's gaze became sharp, and doubt splashed inside his eyes. – You got yourself another child, and we didn't know about it? Since when?

– I can't believe it. I need to have a serious talk with Alex right now, – the Duke frowned upon hearing Judy's question, and pressed his temples.

The Alex the man was talking about was Judy's senior etiquette mentor.

– It's a joke, just a joke! – the boy threw up both hands, as if surrendering, and then continued the interrogation with the same sullen look, but more calmly. – How old is she?

– Twelve.

– I can't have a 12–year–old sister. I would have known about her even if you hadn't told me.

Darwin's anger instantly subsided when he saw that his son was simply overwhelmed with doubts.

It was pure delight that Judy, who had an aversion to any kind of study, drew conclusions so quickly and accurately.

– I adopted her.

– So you really didn't fix it somewhere on the side, didn't hide it and didn't decide to return it back?

– No, – the Duke replied firmly, so that Judy would not turn on his rich imagination at full capacity.

Judy looked at Esther suspiciously.

'She doesn't have green eyes, and she doesn't look like her father at all. She has the wrong hair color, eyes, and her aura is not at all like her father's…

It's very strange. My cold–blooded father decided to adopt a child without a single drop of blood in common?..

Maybe it's because she looks like our mom?

She looks like the mother depicted in the portrait… Is it because of the color of your hair and eyes?' – Judy, continued his reasoning, turning away from his father, who was too strict, and attacked Esther:

– Where are you from?

Esther, who was calmly listening to the conversation, was struck by a question that was suddenly meant for her.

There was still doubt in Judy's eyes, and the girl's heart beat fast when she saw this wariness, which seemed to prevent her from confessing.

– From the temple… – Esther replied softly.

– The temple? Father, did you take the child from the temple? – the boy immediately burst into questions.

– Stop! Darwin, who was holding back with all his might, finally shouted: his low growl was so strong that everyone's hair stood on end. – If you're going to continue talking nonsense, go to your room right now.

– No, I won't do it anymore, – Judy realized that his father was very serious and quickly retreated.

'Last time I was banned from going outside for a week… Although, who cares,' – the boy looked at Esther and thought. 'In fact, I don't really care who my sister is going to be. I need a sister just to flick Sebastian on the nose.

I didn't think it would be solved so quickly, but it's even better! If I kept thinking about it, I would definitely go crazy!'

Judy, who had a rather simple character, instantly smiled. With a mischievous smile, he extended his right hand to the girl:

– Do you understand? I'm Judy.

Esther was confused by Judy's sudden change in behavior, but the girl quickly bowed her head and responded to his greeting:

– I'm Esther.

Calm Esther and Judy, radiating energy, contrasted sharply with each other.

The girl looked at Judy carefully with a silent look.

'His green eyes twinkle like precious stones, and he is also overwhelmed with confidence… Most likely, he becomes a leader wherever he goes.'

Judy was going to leave as soon as he greeted Esther, so he immediately looked around and quickly turned around:

– Then I'll go meet Sebastian.… Hey, what?!

Darwin instantly caught the boy ready to run away. Judy's body, gripped by the Duke's strong arm, was now dangling in the air.

The boy tried to break free and cling to his father. However, no matter how recklessly he moved his arms and legs to get down, he found himself on the floor only after Darwin flicked him on the forehead:

–Where are you going so early?

– Ugh. I already have an appointment, – Judy grumbled and rubbed his forehead, on which his father had flicked him.

Darwin was not going to let go of his son, so he, with a firm hand, pushed Judy to Esther:

– You'll show Esther the room.