3 years later.
In the Von Diovre's Grand Dining Hall, tea was being served to the several guests. Attending to them was a good-looking man in his early thirties. He smiled warmly as he asked the servants to bring in more tea for the guests. His hair is black with a pair of eyes that were deep blue in color, a general characteristic of someone with a Von Diovre blood. He was wearing an expensive looking black robe, and was seated at the center, the position where the Duke is supposed to occupy. It was such a pity that the Duke is not there, so as his brother, Pierre Von Diovre assumed the position in his place.
To his left sat an elderly man wearing a light gray silk formal attire. He looked at Pierre with pride and had an air of arrogance in his eyes. Next to him was an elegant beauty dressed in white, looking as pristine as white lilies. Pure and innocent.
"Please wait for a while, my apologies for this. You see, our dear Lady Melanie has just fully recovered from her occasional illness hence she would take some time to come over." Pierre politely informed the guests. His eyes especially darted towards the middle age man seated on the right. It was none other than the esteemed Marquis Of Galea, Marquis Ronald Calaan.
The Marquis nodded with an indifferent expression. Although he was a guest, he couldn't openly express his disapproval of the little lady's reason for being late as this was actually his first time coming round to visit. What's more, there were also so many other esteemed guests from powerful noble families who came and gathered here. Looking around, Pierre smirked when he saw their faces naturally did not look good. It is known in high society to be disrespectful if you make your guests wait.
Soon, a young lady came to the hall and greeted the guests politely in a very graceful manner. Elijah, who had just come, truly looked quite sickly after all. She had lost her former rosy little face. She was wearing a simple peach dress that matched her beauty perfectly. Though looking weak, she still carried herself gracefully. The guests were quite astonished to meet the only daughter of the famous Duke. Pierre looked at her face, it was now slightly pale, her usually domineering attitude was replaced with a delicate and charming demeanor. He was somewhat displeased by the reaction he saw from their guests.
Seeing the little lady take her seat, their indifferent attitude dispersed immediately. Pierre inwardly scolded these people for being two faced. His eyes darted again towards his niece who suddenly felt like a different person. With creased brows, he frowned. Pierre Von Diovre did not like his niece at all and this was an open secret that is only known by the employees and servants of the entire Duchy. Although, he actually spent much money to keep the servants mouths shut when it comes to the Duke.
"You are still not feeling well?" Pierre asked with a deep frown. "If that is the case, you should have informed us ahead of time so as not to spread your illness with the other guests."
"No need to worry, Uncle. I am already good. The doctor said so." Elijah answered, a concealed sharpness is present.
"Then you should have come earlier. Making the guests wait is disrespectful." Pierre reprimanded the young lady with his gentle voice.
"I do apologize." Elijah replied at she looked around, meeting the guests' eyes with sincerity. "It is not my intention to be disrespectful at all."
"It is quite alright, Lady Melanie." The Marquis answered right away. "We know your circumstances. We know you didn't mean it."
"Thank you, Marquis Calaan." Elijah replied politely and the corner of her lips raised as her eyes darted to her uncle. "Had I known earlier that a gathering of this importance will happen today at thie hour, I could have prepared ahead of time and accommodated you all properly. Alas, a certain someone had just informed me an hour ago. Truly a pity, don't you think so too?"
"What?!" Pierre expression changed for the worst. "Are you blaming me for turning up late for this gathering, my dear niece?"
"Oh, I haven't mentioned any name, my dearest Uncle Lord Pierre." Elijah replied sharply and confidently. "Unless, you are feeling guilty for being the one at fault?"
"You-" Pierre started but was interrupted by the beauty in white sitting near him.
"It is quite fine now that you are here, Lady Melanie. Right?" Marchioness Andrea Calaan, the lady in white spoke up with an understanding smile, wanting to disperse the building tension.
The Marquis and other noble guests who attended all nodded in agreement and some even tried to laugh it out and brush it off. Elijah smirked inwardly as she observed their reaction. Though the confrantation was stopped, she can still feel her uncle's sharp glares towards her direction.
"Since everyone is here. Let's start the tea party." Pierre declared proudly after regaining his composure and took the lead of the conversations there after.
Elijah just quietly listened and would just answer shortly if some would like to talk to her. She really wanted to get out of that gathering as soon as she can. However, she wanted to slowly build her reputation so she maintained her confident and elegant presence despite being only 15 years old in the face of these nobles.
The Von Diovre Dukedom's third generation only had one person, it is the current her, Melanie Von Diovre. However, because the Duke seldom stays in the Duchy and usually settles in the outskirts of the Empire and/ or the border regions because of his missions and duties, Pierre became the person who holds the most power. That is why, even if Melanie is the only daughter of the Duke, everyone in the Duchy doesn't treat her quite right as per her Uncle Pierre's instructions. And her father, who seldom comes home and never really cared about matters other than his duties, didn't know anything about the abuse Melanie is going through. Ever since Elijah took over this body, she had been subjected to several scheming and bullying inside the Duchy. This even intensified after Pierre confirmed that his young concubine is actually pregnant and he would soon have a third generation child who could also inherit the Duchy. At first, she was quite shock to an extent but then after deciding to live this life and survive, she started to fight back and gain people over to her side. Afterall, she is not a person who would allow people to step all over her.
'That child is a son and that will make the abuse even worse inside the Duchy in the future. That is also the reason why Melanie clinged with her engagement with the second prince because she wanted to getaway from this place and start her new life in the palace.' Elijah thought and sighed. 'However, I am not the same. Melanie is still an abused and timid girl when she left the Duchy. The fear and trauma she had in this place are all real to her and only started to gain her confidence after living in the palace. But me, I don't fear anyone here, especially that Pierre. I maybe 15 now, but I have started and will surely establish my power and confront them. I will not allow anyone to treat me unfairly. I have endured too much already for the last 3 years of being stuck inside this novel. I tried everything to get out and wake up from this never-ending nightmare but I couldn't return to the real world. Thus, I have been gaining more knowledge and skills here in order to keep surviving until the day that I get out of this world safely and return to where I came from. To do that, I need to grow more power and gain allies. I really need to up my game. I cannot allow myself to be continually stepped on much longer.'
"By the way, I heard that the Duke had gone to the palace straight away again after accomplishing his mission." Marquis Calaan started.
"That's true. My brother is truly loyal to this Empire and the Royal Family and so he always prioritizes his duty. He arrived this morning and went straight to report to His Majesty." Pierre replied and his mocking gaze landed on Elijah.
'So the Duke is finally back. I have to make sure I meet him. I need to speak to him and gain his favor if I truly wanted the next years of my life to be smooth sailing. I have failed during the past 3 years to get close to him but this time I must truly gain the Duke's favor.' Elijah planned right away. 'As far as the book is concerned, the book didn't really mention the Duke that much. I just know that Melanie and her relationship with her father is distant. She never received love from family thus contributing to her ruthlessness when she eventually became a villainess. Her mother died when she was young and the Duke blamed her birth thus the reason why her father didn't love her. Sh*t! If that's the case, then gaining the favor of the Duke will be much harder then. I tried to approach him before but didn't really do my best. But now, I need it. If I plan to cancel my engagement before the said royal marriage, then I need the Duke's support too.'
"Such a cold child. Your father was mentioned but you didn't even say anything." Pierre commented, painting her in a bad light. "My brother's been gone for several months. Aren't you a bit concerned about your father, my dear niece?"
Everyone fell silent and gazed at her. She can see that they agreed with her uncle and looked at her as an ungrateful brat who is not even concerned about her father. Elijah raised her brow after hearing the somewhat scolding remarks of Pierre. It seemed to her that Pierre is now getting bolding about showing his hostility towards her in public.
"It's precisely because of my deep concern and affection towards my father that made me speechless. After hearing you all menrion his return, I fell deep into my thoughts with worry and urgency. I was thinking what to do as soon as he is back home." Elijah replied, acting worried qnd anxious. "Well, it is easy for others to misunderstood. As a young child who grew up barely seeing my father, people wouldn't understand how I'd feel about his return. My concerns being what could I say and do for my beloved father hoping that my words and actions could actually give him comfort and ease. We don't see each other much, so I am worried that whay I say or do might burden him instead."
Elijah almost wanted to laugh at the look on Pierre's face when he heard her answer. He truly didn't expect that his timid niece is now answering him back and wouldn't back off like she did in the past. Hearing her reply, the guests felt quite sorry for her. She is still young afterall.
"Ehem. I am sure your father will accept whatever it is you say or do, Lady Melanie." Marchioness Andrea commented. Elijah just sighed inwardly thanking the Marchioness deep inside for helping her ease the awkward and tense atmosphere.
"Thank you, Marchioness." Elijah politely replied.
"By the way, have you heard the recent rumors about a royal engagement?" Count Yusol opened up to change the subject matter. "I heard that the second prince will soon be engaged to a daughter from the Franchesca Dukedom. If that happens, I'm afraid the Franchesca's power will be more established within the Empire."
'Franchesca Dukedom? Tsk. So is it not only Melanie that they were considering? The fact that I am technically engaged with the prince but they still have another candidate. Tch.' Elijah thought bitterly and also tried to recall this information from the book but didn't remember anything. 'Maybe because it wasn't really elaborate until the later years when I am supposed to start becoming a villainess. But why didn't the royal family mention this to me? Too much for building trust with the second prince, huh? We haven't really been meeting up since 3 years ago because he entered the Royal Academy but we somehow managed to send letters to each other for the sole purpose of building trust. And yet, he failed to mention this part to me. I thought we were good with communicating with each other? I thought I have somehow managed to gain his trust. Did I read him wrong? Was my efforts over the last 3 years not enough to prove that I am trustworthy? Hmmm.'
'This means I really need to take more precautions against the Royal family as they actually concealed such an important fact? I was too busy gaining more authority inside the Duchy that I somehow ignored rumors and other relevant news outside. Especially about the second prince. Even after I still stated my desire to break off the engagement many times over the last 3 years in my letters, he still insisted, when he can actually marry another girl from the other Dukedom. He already has a backup.' Elijah's eyes slightly narrowed.
"Well, I guess people will just be surprised of the upcoming news. Whether the rumors are true or not, we will find out soon." Pierre smirked confidently as he sipped from his glass of wine.
"You seem to know more, Lord Pierre." Count Yusol said, clearly intrigued.
"Ha ha. It is not my place to speak about it yet. However, it will really be good news soon enough." Pierre replied more. He truly wanted to tell everyone about the engagement of the second prince and his niece but the Imperial Edict is not yet finalized and so he kept his mouth shut just to be careful. However, according to their Elders, it is most accurate and certain that the engagement is with the Von Diovre Duchy and not the Franchesca's since the Emperor stamped the engagement decree with the royal seal 3 years ago. The announcement was just delayed because his niece and the prince were still too young. That means that his future child will truly be the real heir of the Dukedom since his niece will soon become part of the Royal Family, tossing her right to the Dukedom to the side. And as for his brother, he is sure that he will never remarry again thus there will be no more heir aside from his soon to be born child.
Seeing the emotions on Pierre's face, Elijah could accurately assume what is going on his mind. She felt disgusted just by thinking of how greedy he is. She scowled inwardly. She felt sorry for the real Melanie. Though she is technically inside Melanie's body and have been living as her for last 3 years, she still felt that they had no blood relations and so Elijah heaved a sigh of relief after that realization. From the beginning, Pierre abused her and did not care about her and she will return it all once she gains more power. She made up her mind to cancel her engagement and plans to inherit the Dukedom instead. If she cannot get out of this world yet, then she better gain the Duchy to her hands. It'll be easier for her to be in power if she wants to find a way back to her world. Being trapped in the palace is also not beneficial for her cause, so inheriting this Dukedom is her only way.
'I really need to speak to the Duke.' She decided as she clenched her fists under the table.
She gave the man seated on the center a casual glance, and secretly sneered. 'I will not back down. I still want to return to the real world but as long as I am here, I will not be defeated by the likes of you.'
***