The former duchess Florys

*PREVIOUS CHAPTER*

"Don't you have anything else to do, my dear fiancée?"

***

I got lost in his blue eyes as he stared at me. After a few seconds I came back to my senses and panicked. "Uhm, here's your jacket. Thank you for lending it to me" I bowed and gave him the washed jacket, he chuckled.

"Duke, the king sent you a letter" a servant said from the outside. The duke's mood seemed to turn darker as he listened to the servant's words. "I'll be there soon" the duke stood up and walked out the door. I was left alone in his office with some tea and snacks.

"He doesn't even know how to treat a lady!" I pouted to myself, chuckling to myself too. I was quite curious how he became a duke at such a young age, his parents should've been the former duke and duchess. As I walked past the bookshelf, I saw a small family painting. It looked pretty old, it was covered in dust and the glass was shattered. I blew the dust off and saw that it was the duke and his parents. I couldn't see much details since it was painted, but the duchess had a pretty smile painted. The former duke had the same eyes as the current duke, the hair was probably from his mom's side. I heard footsteps and quickly put the picture back and sat down, pretending to drink tea.

*knock knock*

"Come in" I said, it was probably a servant. To my surprise, it was the duke. Did he come back to send me away? "Please feel free to take a walk around the mansion" he left again, who does he think he is?! I was quite pissed at how he treated me, I grabbed a cookie and left the office. There were so many doors that I just opened a door and closed it. After walking down 2 hallways, I saw a black door. The other doors were white and had a blue doorknob, why was this one different? I opened it and the room looked nothing out of the ordinary, although everything was covered in dust. There was a huge painting of some potted flowers, the same flowers were in the garden of the mansion.

"Those were the duchess' favourite flowers, they are blue primroses." The duke's butler said, it was a man around the age of 50, grey hair and he has a walking cane. "Sir, where is the former duke couple?" I asked, the butler had a frown on his face. "They passed away in the old mansion's fire a few years ago, everyone knows this" this time I frowned, was it too obvious that I didn't come from here? "The duke should be coming back in the evening, I will give you a tour" we left the room, I was quite curious about the house's history and that mysterious fire.

***

*Celestine's chamber, 8 p.m.*

I was so tired, the duke was a really cold person. 'Why are almost all handsome people cold?' I thought to myself, sighing. "Master, you really don't look like someone from Maryvil" Naralia spoke, she climbed on the table to face me. I actually didn't know from where my beauty comes, I didn't look like an Eastern person, but I also don't look like a person from Maryvil? "I don't know, I'm tired" I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

***

"Celestine, wake up..." a soft voice spoke, it sounded so soothing that I almost fell asleep again. I opened my eyes and an unfamiliar woman was standing in front of me. I recognised her from something but I couldn't think of what. Her smile was bright, her black hair blown by the wind, brown eyes as bright as her smile. We were outside, in a grass field, without anything or anyone in sight.

"Please look after my son, he might be a little cold but he'll change once you become close" the woman smiled again. "He's quite shy when you get to know him, it's quite a sight!" The woman giggled, she didn't look too old or young, she said that she had a son so she's probably middle aged. "May I ask who you are, lady?" I said, making the woman chuckle in response. "You're smart enough to know that for yourself, please take care" the woman started fading away, leaving a blue primrose behind.

I woke up and saw that it was pitch black outside. "Master, are you okay?" Naralia jumped on the bed and put her body under my hand. "I dreamt about a beautiful lady, she told me to take care of her son" Naralia's eyes narrowed. "Was there any sign of who she was?" I shook my head, but then I remembered something. "When she faded away, a blue primrose was left behind" I quickly pictured the former duchess Florys in my head, everything matched. The blue primrose that she left behind confirmed my thoughts.

"Naralia, is there a possibility of someone who passed away to pass a message to a living person?" Naralia was aware of what I meant and jumped in front of me. "Your dream might've been one, but it's usually only possible when a magic creature does it" my eyes narrowed, if the duchess already passed away, who sent me the message?

It was quite obvious, the duchess must've had a magic creature and it was most likely that it was still alive.