I wasn't ready for this

It was just an ordinary day, almost a month since I first woke up as Amel.

To be honest, I kind of miss my old life and family, but living as Amel is fucking amazing. I am getting the best of everything. Prettiest of dresses, the most expensive dresses, luxurious pieces of jewelry, and servant waiting on my every beck and call. I would have never stepped a foot out of this estate if I was in Amel's place.

What was that girl even thinking about?

Well, since I am Amel now, I will do exactly that. Nothing will stand between me and my lavish life. So come at me with everything you got main characters.

"I will face you guys head-on and show you who's the boss. HAHAHAHA!"

"My lady, is the tea to your liking?" Vanita hesitantly asked. The poor girl must have got terrified because of my evil villainess laughter.

"It's delicious, Vanita. Good work," I complimented her. God knows she deserved it after putting up with Amel's tantrums for all these years.

"I'm glad, my lady."

"Anyways..." I started while taking a sip of that chamomile blend. "Why are all the servants so panicked? Even the head butler looked quite agitated. What's the matter?"

Vanita gave me a confused look as if she knows something that I don't.

"My lady, don't you –"

Before Vanita could complete her sentence, the door of the parlor was thrown open, and a set of rapid footsteps can be heard making their way towards where I was sitting.

The two sets of footsteps belonged to two boys – with blonde hair and red eyes. They were twins and around 12 years old, and they also happened to be Amel's, or now mine older brothers.

"Amel!" one of them cried while jumping on and hugging me, and his grip was so tight that I almost felt my soul escaping my body. God...I don't want to die again.

"You idiot. Can't you see that you're suffocating her?" The other boy said while throwing off the boy off of me who was latched onto time till now.

I was ready to give out a sigh of relief when I was once again hugged tightly – not as painful as earlier, but it was still quite fierce for my frail body. I need to eat more and exercise to strengthen my body.

"We were so scared when we received mom's message saying that you fell into the lake," the one who was hugging me earlier said.

"Yeah, we wanted to return as soon as possible, but those stupid vassals continued to cause trouble for us," the other one said -- who was hugging me said while finally releasing me.

Finally!

"Geordo! You shouldn't push me away like that!" the one who was hugging me earlier growled at the other boy. I guess that's Geordo and the other one is Jeffrey -- my new brothers.

"Amel felt uncomfortable with your presence, and being her older brother, I took the curtsey of making her feel better," Geordo coldly replied.

Aren't twins supposed to get along? Maybe I'm just thinking too much into it. It's just sibling banter. In my previous life, my sister and I used to argue all the time.

"I'm her older brother too, you know!" Jeffrey protested

"But it's obvious that I'm the better one," Geordo coldly replied.

"Who said that?"

"No one needs to say that, everyone knows it."

"Geordo – you stupid piece of –"

"I would stop right there if I were you." The familiar feminine voice of the mistress of the household boomed.

Mother is here, and I was quite relieved for that, but my brother's on the other hand – not so much. As a matter of fact, they looked terrified.

"Mother, what a good day it is?" Jeffrey hesitantly let out.

"You look beautiful as always mother!" Geordo complimented her too. Now the thing is, the trick would have worked if they did it with a sincere heart. Complimenting others with a cold look doesn't work, brother.

"Oh my, my lovely sons complimenting their mother just fills my heart with so much warmth," mother replied with a bright smile.

Maybe brothers' tricks did work on mother. I'm sorry for not putting my faith in you, brother.

"Your trick would have worked if I had sensed even a little bit of sincerity in your words," Mother spoke dangerously.

It didn't work.

"Mother..." the twins let out nervously. Now they are behaving like twins.

"My boys, do you acknowledge your mistakes?" She asked, the dark aura of hers was overwhelming. That's the power of Duchess Agatha Del Lavine, everyone.

"We apologize for almost using foul language in front of our younger sister!" The twins replied, or more like shouted in unison.

Mother looked quite pleased with their apologies, so she proceeded to give them her motherly hugs. Now, I would have been completely fine with her hugs, only if it didn't involve me, but I was never the lucky one.

"So, how was your trip?" Mother asked as the four of us sat down for tea.

"It was quite...uneventful," Geordo answered after a moment. "We got to learn about how the trade takes place between our duchy and other kingdoms."

Mother looked quite pleased with brother Geordo's answers, so she turned to face Jeffrey next – expecting an answer from him.

Jeffrey dropped the piece of cake that was halfway into his mouth when he felt all of our eyes concentrating on him.

"Why all of you are looking at me like that?" He glared at us accusingly, but Mother was not the person who will sway over trivial matters. She kind of reminded me of my real mom. No one messes with them. One glare from mother and Jeffrey's confidence immediately faltered.

"It was okay but I was quite bored," he mumbled.

"Still, you are learning something, right brother?" I tried to cheer him.

"I guess," he replied with a downcast look.

Our conversations were moving in quite a lively manner when the door of the parlor opened again.

Who is it this time?

All of our heads whipped in the direction of the door, and standing at the entrance was none other than the Duke of Del Lavine, and my father – Abel George Del Lavine.

Mother got up elegantly and made her way towards Father. Aish, even her walk is graceful. Moving on, as soon as she reached him, they embraced each other passionately.

Please keep the PDA to the minimum guys. They are kids here. Sheesh.

Fortunately, they separated after a few moments, but it felt awfully long to us. I can assure you that I was not the only one who was feeling awkward in this situation. Geordo and Jeffrey were even making disgusted faces from beside me.

"Now, now, kids, no need to behave like that," Father said while making his way towards us.

"You won't be laughing anymore once you meet your future spouses. Then, you will be behaving exactly like your mother and me."

"We will not!" Geordo firmly protested.

"Yes. Girls are annoying!" Jeffrey joined with equal gusto, before quickly turning to face me with a bright smile on his face.

"You are an exception of course. Amel is the most adorable girl. She is the best!" he said while snuggling into me.

My bones will be crushed beyond repair before the day ends.

.

.

.

"Moving on, my friend, the Duke of Palmer is going to visit us with his family," Father informed us as he sat down for breakfast the next day.

"Really?" Geordo asked nonchalantly while Jeffrey was bust stuffing his face with food.

And what am I doing? I'm enjoying this delicious food prepared by our chefs, but also paying close attention to my parent's conversations at the same time.

Now, I know that eavesdropping on others' conversations is not a good thing, but you couldn't help yourself when your situation is like mine.

You see, the visitor that they were currently talking about – the Duke of Palmer just so happens to be the father of my fiancé. Well, he's not my fiancé yet and I would like to keep it that way. Fewer doom flags for me to worry about.

"So, love, can you please see to the preparations accordingly?" He asked mother, who immediately agreed to it. There goes my chance of convincing them to refuse The Palmer's visit.

Mother is known for being an excellent hostess in the noble society. Could she let go of this opportunity to further assert her identity, so convincing them to stop The Palmers from visiting is not an option.

I continue to rake my brain to come up with something, but all my hopes came crashing down when a maid entered through those big doors.

All of our heads snapped in her direction causing the young maid to yelp out in surprise.

"What is it?" mother was the one who broke the silence.

"The Duke of Palmer and his family is here to visit His Highness," the maid nervously answered.

Fuck! They weren't supposed to be here today.

I was not ready for this.

*Insert crying emoji*