Preparations

Today was a chaotic day- Aeris, Delilah and I went out to town. To buy my needs and they used this day to buy clothes and decorations to have at my birthday party

I told them many times that they didn't have to since I don't need a party or anything. But they insisted. But if they're the ones that are gonna buy, I can't say no to that can I? I don't even have a single penny on me. And I should be grateful.

So many things happened throughout the day, and now we are finally at home. Delilah dragged me somewhere and handed me a box filled with chocolates and grabbed another box

"The maids made this for us!"

"But didn't Aeris say we should eat less sweets?"

"Mom's not here anyway, just eat Tabitha! Enjoy the moment"

We both enjoyed eating the chocolates, not noticing a figure approaching us. Once they got closer, I realized it was Aeris with an angry expression. It made me stop eating and dropped the chocolate on the ground.

"Why did you waste such a tasty thing? Poor chocolate…" Delilah was still enjoying eating and not being aware of the figure behind her

"Didn't I tell you two to eat less chocolates?"

Delilah turned frozen and didn't even want to turn around to see the expression that her mother is wearing

"M-mother! I'm sorry… I can't help it!"

Aeris sighed loudly and told Delilah she has to attend her dance lessons now. And so I was left with Aeris in the room

"That child and her addiction to chocolates…" She sighed once again before turning around to me and smiled

"Why don't we have some talk? You and I haven't talked that much ever since you got here. Delilah would always drag you everywhere"

"Is it okay if I ask you something?"

"How come my brother trusts you and Pierson? I've been with him for years and he wouldn't let anyone in the mansion, unless it's a family member or a noble he knows"

"You see, Thalassius doesn't trust us that much. But I guess he forced himself to do so as there's really no one he can reach out to anymore. I've known him since he's 5"

"Oh… Can I ask another question?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"I know I'm not really your family or anything but how did you and Pierson get together?"

"I worked as a maid under Thalassius' family and they would often have meetings or activities together and I would often serve them tea and snacks. And as time passed by, Pierson gained feelings for me and when we got married, I was no longer a maid but a Duchess"

"Wow, that's amazing"

"Right? Back then all I ever thought was, I'm gonna spend my life serving other people and I didn't think that one day I'll be the one giving them orders instead of following"

"I'm curious, what was my father like? What is his occupation?"

"I'm sorry dear but I cannot tell you that, only Pierson can, and when the right time comes. You'll know"

Aeris hugged me and told me I'll be starting my lessons tomorrow so I should sleep now. I walked away and waved her goodbye with a smile. As I walked down the hallway a figure was walking towards me. No, they're probably just there to walk by. Nothing bad will happen, right?

As the figure got closer, they pushed me forward which made me fall over. I looked up at the man and he wore a disgusted expression, as if he was looking at something hideous. What was wrong with me? Is it my face? My body? The way I talk? But I didn't even utter a single word. Is it the way I walked? The expression I had that could possibly have offended him?

After looking at me up and down, he walked away as if nothing happened. I stood up slowly and patted my dress that probably got dust in it. I walked towards my room and not even noticing that tears were falling down my cheeks

Negative thoughts flooding in my head, I tried my best to push them away but to no avail, I sobbed for hours, and didn't bother to seek comfort from anyone, and after hours of sobbing, I had fallen asleep

The next day, I opened my eyes tiredly and saw maids surrounding me

"Huh?"

"Tabitha! What happened to you? Your hair is all messy and you look like you cried! What's wrong?"

"Nothing… Just a nightmare"

They weren't sure about my answer but they let it slide and got me ready for the day. Oh how bad I want someone to comfort me right now and tell me that everything is fine. All I ever did was bottle up my feelings ever since then, Thalassius would always be worried about me everytime he sees me crying

Delilah busted the door and when she saw me that I was prepared, she started dragging me me somewhere again

"What's with the rush?"

"Have you forgotten? Today is your first day of attending my classes! Aren't you excited? We can finally learn together"

The time of the day felt so slow, I was getting bored of the lesson. History sure is interesting but it's too boring sometimes.

And finally our last class ended and now Delilah and I are walking to the garden with books in our hands, half were novels while half were books for our assignments. We were busy talking but got interrupted when Pierson called us over. As we were finally beside him, I looked up to him and noticed that he's kind of pissed off? I wonder what happened? Or what will happen?

Pierson sighed loudly before forcing words out. "Delilah, Kaera is here again."

When he said the word "again" His tone got deeper. Is this perhaps the thing he was upset about?

"Kaera? Why is he here?"

A boy who's probably the same age as us walked in front of Delilah and bowed his head like a gentleman. I can say this boy is handsome. His blonde hair that looked like gold shined so bright. His smile could make at least twenty girls faint. Though behind that smile can possibly hide his history. I must not be hooked by his looks.

"Delilah, do you want to hang out with me?"

"No"

Oh! That was pure rejection! I looked at Delilah shocked. I mean he can be a bad guy but why would she say no? This guy probably has a lot of wealth yet Delilah rejected him!

Pierson cleared her throat and looked at the man who was with this guy named Kaera

"As you can see, Duke Klemos, my daughter doesn't want to hang out with your son. Isn't it time for you to leave?"

What is this? Do the two have a bad history or something? They look like they're on bad terms

The duke Klemos smiled bitterly before laying his eyes on me

"Who is that girl over there? Is she a maid for Delilah?"

"How dare you call Tabitha a maid!" Delilah defended me and Pierson gritted his teeth before speaking

"I took that child in as my daughter."

"Ho? Interesting. Whose family did she come from?"

"Thalassius. Her name is Tabitha Vandeleur"

"Vandeleur huh? Interesting. Do you know what you're doing, Pierson?"

"I'm aware." The duke Klemos smirked before walking away and saying that he'll come back again with his son to pursue Delilah. Though Delilah just glared at him before taking my hand so we can continue reading and helping each other with our homeworks

"You know… Isn't your birthday near now? 10 more days! We should go out~"

"Go out? For what?"

"Oh you know, we'll buy gifts for you! Say, what do you want?"

"What do I want? Nothing really… I'll accept whatever you give me"

"Then, I'll ask dad if we can go out and buy things for you!"

And so, the next day. We all split up because Delilah wanted to surprise me. I came along with Aeris. We went to buy some snacks we can eat on the way home and then she took me to a bookstore and told me I can pick whatever I want

So far I've picked out 5 books. One book with a beautiful cover catched my eye. But sadly the book was too high for me to reach. I tried my best to get it but I still couldn't. So I gave up and went to look for another book instead. I ended up buying 8 books and Aeris paid for them. Now we're finally on the way to find where Delilah and Pierson are

While on the way, a kid was running as if something was chasing him and bumped into me which made me stumble a bit but luckily Aeris caught me from falling. Once I fixed my position, the boy apologized and bowed for forgiveness

"I'm sorry! I was just in a hurry and my direction was somewhere not near you and I didn't see you… I'm sorry"

"It's fine"

Aeris patted the dust away on my dress and looked at the boy who bumped into me just now

"You look quite familiar"

"I'm Vincenzo Altazar"

"Oh right! Vincenzo, how is your father? Is he feeling well now?"

"He's better than before, but the doctor advised that he shouldn't move at the meantime"

"I see. I hope he gets better soon"

"Thank you. But I have to go now. I still have errands to do for my father"

"Alright, you may go. Be careful okay?"

"Yes!" Once he waved goodbye, he started running again but this time he's looking where he's going. Good, now he won't bump on to other people like he did with me

Not long after, we finally found where Delilah and Pierson was and decided to finally go home

Nothing interesting happened during the ride, but it was fun as we ate the food Aeris had bought and Delilah began complaining about the people she met while shopping. It was pretty funny, especially when she said she won't buy from their store anymore but knowing her, she'll probably forget she had a beef with these people and would proceed to buy in their store anyway