[ON HIATUS]To Be The Duke's Daughter//AU

Chapter 31

"It may cause a pre mature birth. It's a good thing that the baby was able to survive this especially after the recent attack" The doctor just finished checking up on Rashta, she complained about a severe stomach ache, turns out she's been consuming abortion drugs in her meals. It wasn't a big amount but still lethal to the mother and the baby, there's no suspect but of course, some maids have their eyes on us. It's only been a week since we returned then we are once again faced with a problem.

I don't know what that woman did to have them on her side but it worked. Somehow. Dad launched an investigation on the issue, there were small traces of the drug in her food and drinks, they didn't have any lead, there's no record of any transaction in the black market for the drug, unless the buyer payed the seller twice the price to keep their mouth shut.

But who in this mansion will be able to sneak it into her food? The only people who'd be able to touch it is the chef and the maids who'll transport it to her room, "if anyone of you knows anything, speak up" dad said, not even raising his head to look at us who were all the way over the couches. We looked at each other and shook our heads, "we didn't do anything, I didn't even know there are still people who sell those drugs" Lucas answered dad.

The storm stopped probably a couple weeks ago, everyone's busy cleaning up and we didn't really want to disturb them so we ended up bundled inside dad's room. I don't know how the woman's doing, her belly's starting to show so there's no denying it. We might actually get a half sibling by the end of the year.

"Mom's running the investigation right? I'm sure she'll find something" Benjamin said while turning the page of a book that's he's clearly not reading. Dad placed down the paper he was holding, leaned back then rubbed his forehead, this has been stressful for all of us, the only carefree person here is Aunt Grizelda who's out doing god knows what, I saw her talking to a red butterfly a few days back.

News of the mistress never left the mansion (for now), I'm amazed the employees are even able to keep their mouths shut, this is a big scandal for the duchy, its not uncommon for married people to have a lover on the side but dad is known to have only loved mother.

The reason mom took over the investigation despite her obvious anger towards Rashta was because dad knew she could manage the knights better, they listen to her more and follow her orders unlike when it comes to dad, those men think they have a hundred lives and just usually end up disobeying him.

"I would try to help but mom told me not to waste my energy on it" Lucas said, we all gave him a look, "What? I'm trying to be an obedient son" I rolled my eyes.

Can we get just one peaceful day for goodness sake?!

**
"Hold it a bit more tighter then swing" Benjamin instructed, I did so as I was told, hitting the neck of the straw dummy. Lucas and Benjamin both convinced us to start swordsmanship, Leilin didn't really look excited but still went with it. Benjamin instructed me while Lucas guided Leilin.

"Now remember, weak points" he pointed towards the neck, the side of the body and the legs. "In case your attacker wasn't that much affected, use your leg to kick their sacred area. Works for both men and women" he added in a whisper.

"Alright then, let me test your strength" he grabbed his own sword and got into position, his right foot in front of him, his body slightly bent forward and his blade at the ready. I took in a breath and started to attack him, our swords clashed and no one wanted to give up, but I was still a beginner so Benjamin ended up taking the win. "That was close actually. You current level in strength is enough for you to defeat a possible creep" he smiled.

It was only then that we realized Lucas and Leilin weren't there anymore, instead they were practicing archery, Lucas said that she wasn't really cooperative but she was interested in archery so here we are. Her posture looked good, her eyes was focused on the target that some knights nailed on a tree. She shot the arrow and it actually was close to the middle, "Nice shot Lin" Lucas smiled "Thanks" she smiled back then got back into position.

"Raise your arms a little bit more" Aunt Grizelda said from beside me, when in the world did she get here? She went beside Leilin and raised her arms a bit, "Now make sure that not only are your eyes on the target, make sure your mind knows what you want. Manifest it" she said with a very eerie smile. Leilin lets go of the end of the arrow, bullseye.

She looked at aunt in both shock and joy, "No need to thank me, you did that all on your own. You also did a great job on your swordsmanship, Keira" I smiled.

"Now, I'll excuse myself. I have to help your mother look for the culprit" she pats Leilin on the shoulder "Thanks again aunt" she called but aunt just waved her off. Leilin continued shooting more arrows, half of them landed in the middle and the other half landed on the outer circles.

Benjamin and I practiced a bit more, after a few hours, my body became sore so we just stopped. We stayed outside until dad came looking for us, it was rare for him to finally leave his study so instead of just obeying him and heading inside, we forced him in some star watching. Mom eventually found us so we also forced her to sit down on the grass, pushing her to sit beside dad.

We told them about our day, the training and such, it was a very rare moment for us. A moment where everybody is vulnerable, where we can just enjoy ourselves without caring about anything in the world.

Is there a place like that? A place where you can just be yourself? I wish there is, I would love to live there. Or maybe, in the future, the world will evolve, gone with the aristocracy and people will just have the same status.

Maybe someone from that time will be able to dig up a history book from our time and will write a story about us. Who knows?