"No. My daughter. You have done nothing wrong.
"You are not fated to die.
"Everything will be alright soon," Stella's mother said and gently stroked her hair.
She tried smiling for her daughter despite the tears in her eyes. She seemed to care for her daughter. It was not mentioned in the novel though.
'No. You're wrong. That was not what I was talking about. I was fated to die because it was written by the author,' Yeong-ja wanted to explain but remained silent instead.
Stella's mother was barely mentioned in the novel. All Yeong-ja knew about her was that she was beautiful and rich and helped the duke run the duchy.
Looking at her, Duchess Amelia was beautiful indeed. She already had two kids and yet she still looked like she was in her twenties. But she was actually thirty-three.
'That's right. Stella was a rich duke's daughter. I thought her whole family was busy with the duchy and making more money, and they barely had time for Stella. Why is everyone here?'
According to the novel, everyone in the family was too busy with work to pay attention to Stella. She had no one to talk to and so she ended up as an introvert.
Stella had focused on studying and reading books instead so she could be of help to her family in the future.
"You shall be cured, Stella. I have searched high and low for Doctor Arnold. He is the best doctor in the empire. He will cure your illness," Stella's father promised.
The doctor was visibly shaken as Duke Henry gave him a look that said he better cure the girl or die.
'You don't have to threaten the doctor,' she wanted to say but remained silent once again.
Her throat was still dry and hurting. She just glanced at Duke Henry instead.
Duke Henry looked so cold and scary.
Stella must have gotten her coldness from her father. He was tall and handsome but there was not even the slightest hint of a smile on his face even for his ailing daughter. Not that she needed one.
"I will do my best with the utmost of my capabilities," Doctor Arnold promised.
Yeong-ja lightly smiled and nodded at the doctor. She knew anyway that Stella's illness when she was ten-year-old, was cured by a doctor that her father had hired so she did not doubt him.
"See sister, even the doctor has said so. You have nothing to worry about," the fifteen-year-old copy of the duke added. He was smiling brightly at Stella.
He was Hendrick, the firstborn in the family and Stella's older brother. He was almost never mentioned in the book.
It was only said that Hendrick was Stella's only brother and he became the next duke after their father retired.
Hendrick looked exactly like the duke, except for his eyes which he had gotten from their mother.
His bright eyes and beaming smile were almost too blinding to look at when compared to the duke's cold and scary look.
If they did not look too much alike, they would have been mistaken to not be related at all. Their temperaments were the exact opposites.
'A lot of girls will surely flock to this older brother. He seems to be more social than the duke ever was.'
Her eyes landed on the other boy. He was silently standing on the side despite looking so worried about her.
She recognized him as Zafir; the only person in the novel who truly deeply cared for Stella.
Zafir slightly bowed his head as a greeting when their eyes met. But he did not dare say a word.
It must have been because the whole family was around.
Zafir always knew his place and kept his distance.
She frowned when she noticed that his hands were bandaged. She must have stared for too long since he reacted.
"Oh, this. I got it from training," he said and hid his hands behind his back.
She threw a glance at Hendrick, wondering if he had perhaps bullied the other kid.
It was never mentioned in the novel but it could have happened. It was quite common among young people to be jealous and there was a reason for it.
Zafir was brought into the house by Duke Henry when Hendrick was one year old.
It was suspected that Zafir was actually the duke's illegitimate son from an unknown mother.
Duke Henry denied it though and said that he found the baby left in the meadows while he was on travel. The knights who were with him also attested to it. But who knows.
"Hey, what's with that look for? You just suspected me of doing something bad to my younger brother did you not?" Hendrick gasped in disbelief.
'How did he know what I was thinking?' she looked away quickly.
"You are clearly thinking of how I knew. It was written all over your face," Hendrick sighed.
"Zafir, come closer. Look, you are making our Little Stella worry."
"My apologies," Zafir quickly obeyed as he was instructed.
"Milady, I swear I got these from training. Hendrick had nothing to do with it. He had never once done anything bad to me," Zafir spoke for Hendrick's sake.
"Alright, I believe you," she said and smiled at Zafir. According to the novel, he never lied to Stella.
Yeong-ja blinked when everyone was suddenly eyeing Zafir. It must have been due to the fact that he was the only one that Stella spoke with.
Zafir flinched and bowed his head. He was about to back away when Hendrick wrapped an arm around his shoulders, stopping him.
"You are staying right there. You are only making Stella worry further," Hendrick smiled but it was obviously threatening to the recipient.
Duchess Amelia stood up and ruffled both of the boys' hair. She was clearly telling them to behave and the two immediately did.
With that issue solved, the doctor finally spoke about Stella's illness.
Stella had apparently been suffering from the illness for a year and it had gotten worse since all her previous doctors could not cure her.
Doctor Arnold was their last hope, and he promised that he knew of a way to cure her.
There were risks, but the family had no choice. It was that, or they watch Stella die in excruciating pain. She had apparently already taken medicine to feel less pain but she was still feeling it everywhere. She needed more dosage of the painkiller.
The maids were supposed to feed her some soup but Duchess Amelia wanted to do it herself.
And everyone watched as Stella was spoon-fed. She could barely taste the food due to all the eyes watching her but her stomach was aching from hunger and she could barely lift a finger.
Apparently, she was unconscious for several days and that was why everyone was worried.
'Why do I have to suffer like this?' she mentally sighed but took in all the medicine that was given to her after the meal.
She drank it all silently even though it was so bitter. Hendrick watched her with awe and worry in his eyes.
"How does it taste?" Hendrick inquired with curiosity.
"Why won't you try it yourself?" she responded.
Hendrick then asked the doctor for a bit of her medicine so he could taste it. He dropped the container right after he got a sip and held his throat.
"What the hell is?! Are you trying to poison my sister?!" Hendrick screamed.
Duke Henry's sword was instantly at the throat of Doctor Arnold.
"What did you give my daughter?" his cold voice echoed in the room. It suddenly felt like the whole room was frozen in ice.
"I only gave the medicine as I had explained before. It was bitter indeed, but it is not poisoned. Lady Stella was fine with it," Doctor Arnold emphasized that Stella silently drank it while Hendrick was overreacting.
Hendrick glared at the doctor for being treated like a sissy. Everyone then asked for a taste of the medicine. The doctor sighed and obliged.
Everyone's reaction was the same, except they did not drop the container or held their throat. They acted more noble-like compared to Hendrick.
It was clear on their faces though that they thought that the medicine tasted like poison.
"I cannot fathom that my daughter had to drink something like this after every meal," Duchess Amelia obviously felt bad about it.
"My Stella is fond of sweets. Please do something about this," she asked Doctor Arnold.
Only Duke Henry did not have any special reaction. He merely said, "This is indeed too bitter for a child, especially a lady like Stella."
Everyone then agreed to have the doctor add sweetener to the medicine.
'It was fine though. That scale of bitterness is nothing compared to the bitterness of my fate here. The mere fact that I am now Stella in this badly written novel, is bitter enough that I might kill myself if I lose it,' she internally whined.
Another factor though was the fact that she had been drinking alcohol as Yeong-ja. She had tasted something more bitter than the medicine she was given.
She had to wonder if everyone in Stella's family was actually sweet-toothed.