The two women sat in the guest room after the knights had departed, dragging David with them. They sipped their tea in silence for several minutes until Olivia, with quiet confidence, broke the stillness, lifting her cup.
"So, Miss Layla, do you have something to tell me?"
Layla set her cup aside and raised her eyes to meet Olivia's gaze.
"Your Grace, let me ask you a question first. Do you truly believe that I am the Duke Matthias' sister? Or were you merely pretending to believe me?"
A wicked smile curled at the corners of Olivia's mouth.
"Hmm, it seems you have been the one pretending all along, Miss Layla. That weeping woman, begging for mercy... I knew those tears weren't genuine from the moment I laid eyes on you."
"Seems you have keen observation, Your Grace," Layla replied calmly. "But you still haven't answered my question. Do you believe I am the Duke's sister?"
Olivia focused her gaze on her, her mind drifting back to the past. She had never met Layla before; when the servants had mentioned her, Olivia had dismissed them. She didn't even know that Matthias had a sister—until after her death. It was said that she had taken her own life, though there were suspicions surrounding her death. Olivia hadn't even attended the funeral; Matthias had gone alone. She had never seen her face—this was the first time she laid eyes on her.
"Your Grace, are you going to answer my question?" Layla's voice snapped Olivia out of her thoughts.
"In fact," Olivia responded after a pause, "I believe you are the Duke's sister. You resemble my husband very much, so you must be telling the truth."
"Many people resemble Matthias; that doesn't prove if I'm telling the truth or not," Layla retorted, her voice cool.
Olivia narrowed her eyes, her patience thinning. "No one resembles Matthias."
Layla laughed at her reaction. "I didn't mean to insult your husband, Your Grace. Please, don't be upset."
"Never mind," Olivia replied with a shrug. "I'll ask you a question now. If you answer, then I'll know you're being honest."
Layla raised an eyebrow. "Go ahead, Your Grace."
"What's the name of your other sister?" Olivia's eyes held a calculating glint.
Layla's eyes widened in surprise, and for a moment, she was taken aback. Few knew of the existence of another sister, especially since all the household staff had been replaced. Let alone those who might know about a child from Matthias' past.
"You know about Amelia?" Layla asked, her voice softer now.
"Her name is Amelia, then?" Olivia pressed, her voice still level but her curiosity piqued.
"Did Matthias tell you about her?"
"Ah, somewhat. He did mention her," Olivia admitted, leaning in.
Layla sighed deeply, as though the weight of years was finally catching up to her.
"It seems my brother cares for you deeply," she said, her voice tinged with a touch of bitterness. "He told you the secrets of this family. That's quite unexpected of him, especially to tell you."
Her words were a subtle reference to Olivia's own family's history, but Olivia chose to ignore them, focusing instead on Layla's story.
"Yes, it seems he does love me very much," Olivia replied, a smile curling on her lips. "Now, why don't you tell me your story?"
Layla hesitated, but then the mask of civility dropped.
"Well, if there's no point in pretending before you, Lady Olivia Lukron, then I suppose I'll share my tale," she said, leaning back in her seat. "Do you enjoy stories? Because I have a rather long one to tell."
"Please," Olivia said, her curiosity piqued. "I'm all ears."
"Hmm, where shall I begin?" Layla murmured, pausing for a moment to collect her thoughts. "I'll start with why I didn't live with my brother and father here in the duchy."
"Well," Layla continued, "Duke... my father... was known for his nobility, his honor, and all those high virtues that people saw. That was how everyone perceived him. My mother, she was a noblewoman too, and the sole heir to the Lukron Duchy at the time. And back then, my father was just a knight. They met at a party and fell in love. It didn't take long for them to marry.
And because my mother was so in love with my father, she gave up her title and all her lands to him. She believed, like many do when they're in love, that she would spend her life with him."
A distant look clouded Layla's eyes as she continued.
"After a short while, my mother gave birth to twins—Matthias and me. That's why I look so much like my brother. But after we were born, my mother's health began to decline rapidly. Even after two years, she never fully recovered and spent most of her time bedridden. The doctors suggested that she go to a neighboring kingdom for treatment. It was going to be a long-term process, and so, she left us in my father's care. Sometimes, a relative would visit to check on us. And so, she went away for treatment."
Olivia listened intently, her expression softening as the pieces of the story started to fall into place.
After the treatment ended, my father went to fetch my mother. We were the happiest people, knowing that my mother would finally return. She came back carrying a child in her arms. The servants were in shock. Everyone knew that my parents had been apart for ten months, and it was clear what the presence of this child meant. Everyone understood except my mother, who couldn't comprehend why the servants looked at her with such astonishment.
At that moment, my mother's cousin stepped forward and cried out in horror,
"Thalia, where did this child come from? What is this shameful act?"
My mother didn't understand her words. "What do you mean, Eloise? She's just a child."
It was my mother's misfortune that she didn't realize it was all a scheme to trap her, and it was even worse luck that the child bore a strange resemblance to her.
My mother turned to my father to ask what was happening, but he slapped her across the face, and began to cry. "I never expected this from you, Thalia. After everything we've been through? And now, you bring me a child as if everything is normal?"
My mother was in true shock. Whatever he said, it would be against her, so she stayed silent, deep in thought. A few days before her return, my father had sent her a letter informing her that a friend of his had lost his wife while she was receiving treatment at the same place where my mother had been. The friend had left behind a newborn, so he asked my mother to bring the child back with her when she returned. She had carried out his request without a second thought. It had all been planned from the beginning.
She glared at them defiantly and stood up. "I am not a traitor. Stay out of my way. I want to see my children."
"My children?" my father sneered. "You can take Layla, but Matthias will stay with me." He was well known for his hatred of females.
"What do you mean 'take'? Do you mean leave the house? This is my home. Have you forgotten?"
"There's no place for a traitor in my home. Have you forgotten that I am the Duke here?"
Another blow was added to my mother's pain. Everything had been taken from her, and she was left with nothing.
That day, my father cast her out. The story of my mother's supposed betrayal spread across the kingdom, and within a few days, he divorced her. Fortunately, she was a noblewoman, so they only exiled her to the borders and stripped her of her title. After the court proceedings, my father confessed to my mother that he and her cousin had orchestrated the whole drama. The child was theirs, but my father had abandoned her because she was, first, a girl, and second, illegitimate. It became clear why the child resembled my mother, and they had used that to frame her. Meanwhile, my father remarried her cousin, Leon's mother, and abandoned both my mother and me, along with that child. He truly despised females.
Olivia listened in astonishment, unable to fathom the depth of deceit and cruelty her late father-in-law had possessed. She spoke quietly,
"And what happened to you, then, you and your mother and that child?"
"Well, we were exiled to the border for ten years, and we lived there. But my mother could never return to the capital after everything that had happened to her here, so we stayed there, the three of us."
"The three of you? You mean..."
"Yes, my mother took care of the Duke's child and named her Amelia. To be honest, sometimes I feel like she loves Amelia more than me," Layla said with a small laugh.
"Well then, what about Matthias? Did she ever come to see him?"
"Ah, after the divorce, my father forbade my mother from seeing my brother altogether. He even disowned me so that there would be no blood relation between us. That's why I carry my mother's name, not my father's."
Layla spoke of her past as though it were the story of someone else, as though the pain had long since been buried. But there was a bitter exhaustion in her words, a weariness with this life.
"So, Your Grace, this is my identity. Now I must tell you about that wretch."