After Ronald had left the lunch that afternoon, I sent a formal letter to the Belv manor. The letter contained the documental procedures and terms in order to annul an engagement.
Of course, I did not personally write the letter but had instead assigned Henry to do the task.
Just like marriages, you had to file official documents to break an engagement. But the processes of an engagement was much simpler. Unlike marriage, the two parties did not need to agree to the annulment.
Since Ronald had not yet filed for the annulment of our engagement, I took it upon myself to quickly cut our ties or relationship of any sorts. Besides, how could I have a man be the one to break up with me first?
It had never happened, even in my first life, and would surely never happen.
'What a huge ego' I thought, amused about my own thinking process. I was very much aware of my prideful nature, but I didn't bother much about it. I worked my ways around my character pretty nicely.
The engagement was successfully broken. My life went on as usual. A few days went by peacefully. Nothing major happening, until...
"The Marquis will return this evening" Mother told me. Her tone stripped of joy.
I nodded quietly.
Marquis Deor, who was my father, had been in the capital for the past five months.
Due to his long absence from the South, I thought that he had relocated permanently to the capital. But it seemed to not be the case.
Just as mother had said, father's carriage wheeled into the parking area in the evening.
The servants were all lined up downstairs, while I, mother, Cardin, Olivia and Paisley stood in front of the line, with mother in the middle.
The grand carriage bearing the symbol of the Deor family — which was the sign of the eyes of an eagle, slowly came to a stop as it parked in the manor.
The coach man got down from his seat then quickly went to open the carriage door. As the door opened, father stepped out of the carriage.
He walked into the house with robustness. The moment he got into the parlor, everybody but mother, bowed in greetings to him.
"Greetings to you, Your Grace" Everyone said, in unison.
"Yes" Father stretched the short word as he looked at the mansion as if he was unfamiliar with it.
He then looked at each of his family members one by one. When his eyes landed on me, I flashed him a close eyed smile. Quickly, he turned away from me and spoke to mother.
"I hope dinner is ready, Jessica"
"Of course it is" The sound of annoyance in mother's voice made me chuckle.
Father proceeded to walk into the dining room and the rest of the family followed behind. Leaving the servants to go back to their duty posts.
Mother did not sit at the head of the table this time. Instead, she sat at father's right side. Father then sat at the head of the table since he was the Marquis and head of the family.
I sat beside mother and Paisley next to me.
Cardin sat closest to father on his left side. Olivia sat next to Cardin. The seat beside Olivia was empty. Meaning that somebody was absent.
The food was brought in after everyone was seated. Everyone began to dig into their food.
It was obvious that today's dinner was prepared with extra expertise. Probably to commerate the Marquis' return from his five month absence.
Father looked over at the empty seat next to Olivia.
"Jessica, where is Ashley?"
Mother paused for a second then continued to adjust her spoon while speaking.
"Ashley is in her part of the mansion. She doesn't come out"
"Why? Jessica, what did you do to her?"
Mother clucked her tongue. This time completely setting down her spoon and facing father.
"What in hell would I do to her? I don't talk to Ashley and she doesn't talk to me" She sneered.
The room was completely silent after that. If anyone were to go on, an argument would ensue. No one was in the mood for an argument, so the silence remained.
Ashley was Paisley's mother and father's mistress. Ever since father traveled five months ago, she did not come out from her part of the mansion.
Father cleared his throat, trying to break the silence, then spoke up once again. This time facing his left side were Cardin and Olivia sat.
First, he started with Cardin.
"Cardin, how has things been in the mansion?"
"It's been peaceful, uncle"
"Good" Father nodded simply. He turned to Olivia who was eating her food quietly. "Olivia, how are things with Count Farret?"
I could see Olivia clench her fists and falter in her act of showing off an innocent smile. In a gentle voice she said. "Oh, we're good! I feel like our wedding will soon take place"
"Excellent. Forming a connection with the Farret family is good for the Deor family"
Olivia only nodded and smiled then resumed eating her meal quietly.
"Paisley, how has your planting project been going?" Father asked.
"It's perfect! All my flowers have been growing well!" She said with a smile.
Paisley's gardening project, she had been doing in the town square of the South, had proven successful. For some reason father was proud of this small achievement done by his daughter.
Finally, father looked at me. A small frown on his face and the sound of distaste in his voice.
"Adrianna, when will the wedding with Lord Belv, be taking place?"
I dapped my mouth with a napkin. "It's not taking place. My engagement with him has been broken" I smiled.
Father choked on the tea that he was drinking. He coughed seriously, his eyes almost bulging out.
He reached for a glass of water and drank it down in one big gulp.
I held back the urge of rolling my eyes by his overdramatic actions.
"Broken? What did you say?!" He asked.
My lips curled upward. To others, my smile looked like a pained one, but to those who knew me well, they'd know that this was the smile I had when I felt something was ridiculous. When I was trying my best to hold back my laughter from a ridiculous scene.
"My engagement with Lord Belv has been broken. Ended. Annulled" I listed all the synonyms that came to mind that very moment.
"W-what? How?!" Father turned to mother. As if searching her face for an explanation.
Mother had an uninterested look. She sighed. "Adria, was the one who officiated the annulment if the engagement"
Father shook in anger. He banged his clenched hand on the table, looking ready to shout, when I spoke up.
"But now, that means we'll look forward to Paisley and Lord Belv's wedding"
Paisley looked down at her plate shyly, as a blush crept up on her cheeks.
"Y-yes?"
Seeing her like this, I felt disgusted.
'Why was she always blushing about things like this?' I thought, glancing at Paisley.
Confusion was written all over father's face as he looked from each person that sat at the table. A lot had seemed to happen ever since he went to the capital.
"Huh?" His face demanded an explanation.
Once again, mother sighed, as if tired of everything. "Lord Belv has been a relationship with Paisley for quite some time. It appears that they're a loving couple" Mother's words had an underlying meaning to it, but no one was going to point it out.
"So you can relax, father. One of your daughters is going to married into the Belv family" I sounded nice, but my voice was dripping with venom.
Mother explained the situation briefly to father and said she'd explain the other bits later.
Father seemed to be cheered up. After all, it didn't really matter who got married into the Belv Duchy. What mattered was that a lady of the Deor family, was able to tie the knot, with the heir of the Belv family.
Father didn't care whether I was heartbroken or not. His only concern was about how I'd quickly find a suitor if noble prestige.
While talking to father, my tone wasn't in it's usual sweet and soft form. All the servants present, were surprised my change in attitude.
Slowly, but surely, my innocent façade was beginning to unravel. Pretending to be nice, had started to become a bit too boring.
***
In my hand, I carried a lit candle. The servants who passed me by, wondered what I was doing with the object.
Though it was night time, the mansion was very well lit.
Father was going to his office, I followed behind him at a slight distance, then came close when he was near the door.
"Hello father!" We were both standing in front of his office. His hand was on the door knob, while he looked at me, his eyebrows narrowed. I could notice him eyeing the candle that I held
"Yes, Adrianna" He slowly pushed open the door then walked into the office, with me following behind.
"How have you been?" I smiled sweetly, while tugging at the ends of his sleeve, the candle in my other hand.
He redrew his arm out of my hold and took a big step back, as if he was burnt by my hold. "Get away! What do you want?"
The sweet smile on my face immediately transformed into an evil smile. I set the candle down on the cupboard close to me. All of a sudden, my purple eyes, began to glow.
While staring father in the eyes, I whispered in a sing song tone. "Sign the documents to make me the heir of the Deor household"
Father immediately froze, in a trance as he stared into my dark purple eyes, with his light purple ones. Some kind of dark mist surrounded his eyes that stared into mine.
"Ye-, No!" He shook his head and stepped away from me. Fear, written all over his face.
I laughed and flicked my hair. "Tsk, it seems that the spell still won't work on you, dear father"
"I told you! No matter how much you try, the power of hypnosis can never work on those who inherit the special blood of the Deor family" He gritted his teeth in anger.
My eyebrows rose. I slowly walked to father's desk, pulled the chair, then sat on it.
"Yes. I admit the hypnosis, can't work on you. But there are ways to work around it"
"Ha! Nobody knows the power of hypnosis, more than me" Father clenched his fist in anger. He looked ready to stab me. But of course he could and would not.
"If you say so" I smiled at him as he stood in front of his own desk, instead of sitting on the chair meant for the head of the family.
I moved my back, tipping the chair backwards. In the process, I pushed aside all his arranged documents that he had brought back with him from the capital.
"Father" My tone sounded sweet. "Instead of Cardin, make me the head of the Deor family. The head of the family should be the one who possesses the power of hypnosis. Don't you think so?"
Father shook in rage, but he did not lift a finger against me. Did not shout in order not to annoy me.
Just like I always say, being in charge is just the best.
It's time to tell you all about one of my trump cards. The power of hypnosis.