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I finished another solo dinner and walked out of the dining room in thought. I was trying to think of a good contingency plan if all else fails.

Running away and living as a commoner sounded nice on the outside but I’d never actually worked for myself so I would probably die of starvation. Besides, I was too beautiful for a commoner.

Not to say there weren’t beautiful commoners, but beautiful commoners rarely lived beautiful lives…

Another good idea would be setting up a business aka becoming a merchant. But I hadn’t paid much attention to the trends in the kingdom and most of all, I had no business acumen.       `         

The more I thought about it, the more I realized how useless I was. The only thing I knew how to do was to be Queen. I knew how to take care of a household. I knew how to take care of finances.

Huh.

I suppose being a butler might actually suit me.

Suddenly, I noticed a shape bent over in the distance. The thick brown hair told me who it was. It was none other than my brother dearest.

I was going to walk away, then I changed my mind. I began to quietly approach him and as I approached, I heard sounds in the distance. I soon realized that the sounds were the voices of two people arguing. And the closer I got, the more recognizable the voices got.

“I am the Duchess of this house!”

“So you are. I don’t have time for this nonsense, Lady Arabella. Show yourself out.”

I blinked in surprise. Now, this was new.

I don’t recall ever seeing my parents argue. I knew they didn’t get along, but I never got to see any disagreement in action. All I ever saw was my father being cold as ice and my mother trying to get into his good graces.

“Nonsense?” I heard my mother’s voice turn shrill, “I only ask that you show.”

I glanced at Rowan, who hadn’t noticed me yet and forced down my smile. Lately, I found a lot of things amusing, especially when they shouldn’t be. I tapped his shoulder and he jumped, whipping his head around.

“What are you doing?” I whispered.

His eyes widened and he quickly shushed me. He pulled my hand and dragged me to the floor.

There was a slight crack in the door which Rowan was using to peek inside. I tilted my head with wonder. I’d never seen him act so childish.

I looked down at my hand which he was still holding. Then I looked up at his face.

“I’ll have you know I’m busy, Lady Arabella.” the Duke’s deep voice boomed in my ears.

And it was immediately followed by my mother’s screechy voice, “You’re always busy!”

“Then what will you have me do?! Tell the King you threw a hissy fit so I cannot attend to my duties?!”

I heard something crash to the floor and break. Now I wanted to look inside too. I pushed Rowan’s head a little, ignoring his hushed protest and got an eye in.

The Duke was sitting at the side, his forehead creased while my mother stood before him, blood dripping from her hand.

“Ha,” my mother suddenly laughed, “You hate me, don’t you?”

The Duke didn’t reply. He raised a hand to massage his forehead.

“I’m not stupid. But why?” her voice cracked, “It’s been 14 years and you won’t give me an answer,” her voice went higher, “What did I do wrong?”

The Duke’s head whipped to my mother and his face distorted with rage. The sight actually shocked me.

“‘What did I do wrong’?” his voice was dripping with ridicule. He stood up and walked to my mother. His visage was so frightening that she took a step back. He caught up to her in an instant and caught her chin.

Then a twisted smile crept on his face, “Do you think I don’t know what you did? What role you played in Helena’s death?”

And I suppose this is where I gasp in shock. So I did. And immediately, I felt a hand go around my mouth, shutting me up. I turned to the owner, Rowan and looked into his eyes. There was a small hint of surprise but apart from that, nothing else. He already knew.

I turned back to the arguing Duke and Duchess of Blackburn and noticed the confusion on my mother’s face.

“W-What?”

The Duke tossed her face away in a motion quite familiar to me and brought out a handkerchief to clean his hand. Then he turned around, “Get out.”

“W-Wait, I didn’t—”

“Get out!”

I felt a hand pull me and I let myself be dragged. Rowan dragged me to a corner, and I watched quietly as my mother walked out, tears streaming from her eyes as she trembled.

Rowan’s eyes were filled with venom as he watched my mother walk away. Then he seemed to notice my presence all of a sudden and pushed me away.

I had a mask of disbelief on my face, but I wasn’t really shocked. I had been suspicious but hearing it from the Duke’s mouth was slightly surprising. That said, my mother didn’t actually have anything to do with Lady Helena’s death.

Yes, I know. Shocking.

Lady Helena was the Duke’s first wife and Rowan was the fruit of their love. However, Lady Helena weakened during her pregnancy and passed away after giving birth. It was later found out that she was poisoned.

And my mother was assumed to be the culprit.

I glanced at Rowan who was straightening up. “Brother Rowan—”

“Don’t call me that,” the boy snapped coldly. He stepped away, about to leave.

“My mother wouldn’t do that,” I suddenly said.

He stopped. Then he looked at me like I was stupid, “You don’t know anything.”

“I know more than you,” I retorted as I leaned onto the wall. Then I turned my eyes to the ceiling. I wasn’t sure if I was making the right choice here. Saying anymore would cause Rowan to take note of me but perhaps I pitied my mother.

She fell in love with the dashing Duke Blackburn, but he was already married. And when the Duke’s wife passes away, she suddenly finds herself engaged to him. Although baffled, she was overjoyed. Until she enters the Blackburn family and realizes that the Duke wants nothing to do with her.

As for why the Duke thought my mother was involved in Lady Helena’s poisoning, well...we’ll have to thank my aunt for that.

I let my fake mask of disbelief fall and allowed my ridicule to show, “You’re all being played like a fiddle.”

Rowan’s eyes narrowed and he chuckled, “Like mother, like daughter. One is a snake, the other, a budding snake.”

I waved my hand, exaggeratedly, “Oh, please. You praise my mother too much.”

I straightened up and glanced in the direction my mother left, “Rowan, let’s not beat around the bush here. You hate me, you hate my mother.”

“You know, I almost fell for the innocent act.”

“I am 6 years old, Rowan. I couldn’t be more innocent.”

Rowan leveled a gaze at me but didn’t say anything. Well, he wasn’t leaving so that counts for something. I was actually surprised by his willingness to listen.

‘Is it because he’s still young?’

“Like I said, my mother wouldn’t do that,” I raised a hand when I noticed he was about to retort, “I know you won’t believe me, but you’re mistaken. My mother had nothing to do with Lady Helena’s ailment.”

As expected, Rowan looked skeptic. His lips curled in a sneer, “Mhm. And pigs can fly.”

“Look, just....just look into it,” I ran a hand through my hair and mumbled, “I don’t even know why I’m talking to you.”

I was starting to get frustrated. And I wasn’t sure who I was getting frustrated at. I took a deep breath and faced him properly. His eyes were like dark orbs and his gaze on me was piercing. He really looked like his father like this.

I couldn’t help but ask, “I’m curious. Why are you even listening to me? Usually, you just walk away when I start talking.”

Rowan smirked and put his hand in his pocket, “Because I’m curious myself. What has that woman been feeding you?”

I chuckled slightly, “I assure you, my mother has not been feeding me anything. We barely talk.”

He looked surprised when I said that. Did he not know of my mother’s distaste for me?

“Anyways, it’s not my mother. Think about it, she’s the daughter of a viscount. Where would she get the gall to go after a Marquis’ daughter?”

Rowan’s eyes narrowed.

“Ok, let’s say she had the gall. How would she even accomplish it? You and I know my mother’s power in this house is very weak. Talkless of when she was just a mere Viscount’s daughter.”

Rowan suddenly smiled, surprising me, “How long have you been rehearsing this speech?”

I shut my mouth and sighed.

‘Well, I tried.’

I spun around and began to walk away. That was a stupid decision and I knew I was going to pay for it. I groaned inwardly.

Why was I even trying to talk with a madman? I thought I might get through because he was still pretty young, but his mind was obviously made up.

‘Why do I even bother?’