Leo didn't know how Mila got such news when they wanted to avoid letting her know the current situation and matters in the Mireraweth palace. "Where did you hear such a thing?" Leo looked over to Mila, who held a sad gaze, staring down at her cup of tea that had likely gone cold. He was going to, without a doubt, punish the one who spread the news to Mila.
"I-" Mila was about to say that it was well known in the town when she had been cut off.
"She heard it like any other would know since it's not uncommon to know now that the war is coming sooner than one would know. It's not surprising to hear that a disfigured young man would be sent off to war since he is portrayed as useless." Vita came up with their other two half-siblings looking at the three figures who were supposed to be enjoying their time together with a bit of tea. Now, they were bothered by non-other than their half-siblings, who saw each other as enemies more than blood siblings.
"Oh, your face may have gotten uglier from last I saw you." Darren looked at Mila, seeing her face covered with her mask and her hair covering the left side of the face. 'She has indeed lost face now. There is no way that she would ever be able to climb any further.' Darren felt Mila was useless and assumed that she would soon lose favor from their father, who held strongly onto her image and reputation.
"Why don't you show your face more? It'll be such a story, even allowing us to tell the story for you when people ask about it." Elsie smirked, seeing how Mila kept her casual stare at them with no care like she always did when they were younger.
"What brings you three here at this time of day? Did you perhaps come to greet me and welcome me back?" Mila took a sip of her cold tea, ignoring their taunts. "You three have not greeted me back ever since I returned home. Are you here to greet me now?" She decided to mess with them since they could not argue or fight back with her anyway.
"You should be the one greeting me for coming back! Such a lowly commoner-born child should've been abandoned long since birth! " Vita tried again to get Mila upset with harsh words, which would never work on her now. 'How can this bastard continue to endure all the insults that I've been telling her and not get upset?!' Vita angrily looked to Mila, who still did not care about anything she said.
"Of course, I am of low birth, but you can't seem to part from me since you continue to visit and talk to me after my return. Do you perhaps favor me secretly? Why would I leave such a great sister of mine behind?" Mila made it sound derisive to Vita, who had just reached the last straw.
"You!" Vita had rushed forth, trying to somehow get a hold of Mila. Before she could, Leo had grabbed Vita's hand to prevent her from catching Mila in any harmful way.
"Shouldn't you be attending a tea party at this time? Why don't you hurry along and meet your lady friends before things get messy here." Leo glared at Vita, who angrily pulled her hand from Leo, who always went against her. Luce went over to keep Mila close to her from being harmed by her other two half-siblings.
"You're an idiot!" Vita angrily said, leaving with a defeat which she was always no match for Mila once Leo was there. "I can see why your mother tried to kill you as an infant!" Vita shouted out before Leo could even punish or get payback for Mila.
'Mila...' Luce had never heard about such infant years for Mila, who had to suffer. She never thought that Mila's mother would attempt to kill her as an infant. 'What kind of mother would hurt their child?' Luce sadly looked down at Mila, who was indifferent about what Vita had just mentioned or said.
Mila knew that she still wasn't welcomed back by her siblings; they would do all means to hurt her. Only her father and Leo would be her only blood family who would accept her no matter what or who she was with her lowly background. "Thank you, Leo." Mila gave him a warm smile seeing how he was still there for her when her other three older siblings were bullying her. "Hey, is this how you both probably also met when I left?" Mila decided to pop the question since she never got the story of how Luce and Leo met and got to know each other while she left to find her companions.
"Well... you can say something like that happened." Luce could see that Mila wanted to change the topic for the two to ignore it and move on with their day. Yet, Luce felt her face turn red to remember their first encounter, which she felt like a burden to Leo since she depended on him so much.
"She was quite the runner, I suppose." Leo included since Luce was running away from the people she was exposed to when they first met. He did not think that he would take the initiative to save her that time when he soon felt enchanted by her.
"Leo, I didn't think you were into such a woman! She's just the most compatible woman for Leo, no matter how I see it!" Mila had nothing but positive words and compliments to say to the couple. Leo and Luce looked down to see how Mila was very accepting of them in every possible way. "I hope I get a little nephew or niece soon!!!" Mila said out of nowhere, making Luce redder than usual since she still didn't want to think about children yet.
"M-M-Mila?! D-D-Don't say t-t-that!" Luce looked away while Mila saw Leo’s face, clearly saying something was bound to happen sooner or later.
'These two will have to get there someday. It seems as though Leo has other thoughts in mind which I need to be wary of men with the same look as him.' The thought shook Mila that certain men could be wicked to women or their lovers.
Leaving the two after some time to be alone, Mila stumbled upon Vita, Elsie, and Darren once more, who were not even at their 'tea party. Hiding quickly, she thought they were supposed to be gone by now, which seemed the plan may have changed between the three. 'Why are they still here?! Aren't they supposed to be gone?!' Keeping a close eye on them, she did not know what the three were planning against her.
"Every single damn time! She is always treated so special and delicate like no other person can be the same as her! Why can't we be treated just the same, but instead, we get the cold shoulders from father!" Vita angrily despised Mila, and she could understand why her half-siblings would be so upset or angry with her.
'It's not my fault you didn't get your father's attention. I only have my father and Leo on my side, while you three have your mothers with high status and strong backgrounds. Who told you to be selfish about everything?' Mila sighed, looking down at them from a tree she had gotten on to listen more closely to their conversation. It was high enough to avoid eye view, along with enough twigs and leaves around to hide her from being noticed.
"Don't you want to take the Duke title away from Leo?! Why are you not trying to get your father's favor?" Vita looked to Darren, the second son and Mila's second older brother. 'This second brother of mine is rather useless!' Vita hated useless people who were not helpful to her. She wanted people who could help her rise in power and status, and she wanted to try and enter into the Crown Prince's harem since she was reaching her marriageable age. 'I need to be able to get the Crown Prince's attention. Then, I need to be able to overthrow his current Crown Princess, who already has his future heir.' Vita had been waiting for the right time and tried to get Prince Leroy's attention.
"You can't be telling me that when you are in the same boat as me! You haven't even gotten close to father's favor to begin with! You know that father does not favor you since you've caused more trouble in the past than you think! I don't understand why you are trying to pin the blame on me every single time!" Darren looked to see how Vita was always trying to blame others for their failed attempts to have their father's favor. 'Damn it! I need to surpass Leo somehow! Leo is father's intended heir to be the next duke to serve under the Crown Prince!' Darren knew that Leo was the legal heir since he was the firstborn with an excellent maternal background much higher than his.
"Do you want to start this?! Let me remind you that your mother is still under my mother's clutch! Your family is still under my mother's hold since you are much lower than me!" Vita angrily glared at Darren, who had given her the same glare. It was indeed true that Vita's maternal status was much higher than Darren and Elsie’s.
"Enough! We cannot go against each other! The more we argue, the more we'll fail at our attempts to gain father's favor! Not only that, we have to get rid of Mila somehow without Leo being there to save her. Maybe ruining her image is enough to make her run off again." Elsie bumped between the two to stop them from going against one another.
'Oh my, they think I will easily give in to their plot.' Seeing how they were putting so much effort into getting rid of her. 'You all don't know how to create small talk with your father. Neither of you three has worked well together since the beginning.' Mila could see how they all plotted against her and Leo to gain their father's attention. 'You all are lucky enough to have your mothers. Leo and I didn't even have mothers to raise us.'
Watching the three leave, Mila knew they would likely get their mothers to help them gain the title of Duke or win Duke Reynard’s favor to enter into the Crown Prince's harem. Hopping down, she saw two small figures rushing over to her, which looked a bit desperate.
[Mila!!! Where have you been?!] Cotton panted with Net reaching right after her.
[We haven't been able to see you. It's boring without you.] Net climbed onto Cotton since he was small as a child's hand and had short legs, making traveling longer for him.
"You both looked around the mansion to find me?" Mila carried both into her arms, seeing how they were the only ones who would look for her with Emmett, Sara, Thelma, and Tim all on their honeymoon. "It's boring now." Walking around, she felt bored since she had returned from her long venture. Nothing changed, which made her quite upset that there was nothing to do.
'I miss traveling. Stuck at home, there's nothing but a quiet atmosphere.' Reaching a hill, a tree stood on top with her sitting down near it. It gave a clear view of the palace’s training grounds. She saw many troops dressed and ready for departure to go against the Maedda troops.
