“Ophelia is it true? Did you really try to curse your older sister?” After fifteen long and dreaded years with absolutely no communication, these were this man’s first words to his youngest child.

   Not like I expected it to be any different.

   My eyes voyaged through the clean, darkened room before spotting Amanda sitting gracefully on the bright red divan. Her lips curled as an overwhelming sense of pride emanated out of her stance.

   “Is all of this really necessary?” Swiftly, I turned to the large and tall shelves filled with heavy books mostly regarding our kingdom’s history. “It seems to me as if the great Duke has already made up his mind.”

   The moment our glances intertwined, his eyes sharpened, coldly glaring at me with easy to read thoughts. Once, my whole body would tremble with horror and fear at his feet, however, now, his thin figure belonged to no more than an exhausted man - clearly overused by the bliss of time and lacking any of the pressure and power it used to hold.

   “Answer my question, Ophelia Criswell.”

   After observing the carefully organized books on the wooden planks, my attention was drawn to one in specific. The hard yet bright yellow cover that embraced the thin paper sheets stood out among all its peers. My hands removed the item from the shelf as big letters read Nobility of Ashen Kingdom. I grinned towards the tall man sitting behind his large desk, his forehead filled with bumps, wrinkles born of his involuntary frowning.

   “It seems elder sister mistook the library with her chambers... I simply reminded her of a lady’s etiquette.”

   “How insolent! You dare educate your older sister!?” He yelled, venting out most of his pent-up frustration on the best puppet he owned: me. As he spoke, Amanda calmly drank her tea, observing the unfolding situation from the sidelines - with a sniffy smile between her bright red lips.

   “Someone has to, wouldn’t you agree?” As he was about to reply, I tossed the book on top of his desk harshly, allowing a large thud to ring through our ears. My hands then stole a bright red apple from a tray resting at the corner of his desk. “I am sure you are well aware of her unsuited hobbies.”

   With a peek through the corner of my gaze, a beautiful scene unfolded. Amanda´s stance was now completely torn apart; her cheeks had flushed to the point one might mistake them by ripe cherries with some faint sweat drops escaping the back of her neck. By now she should’ve realized her brilliant plan was but a flawed mess. Reactively, her hands dropped the teacup on the low table, almost shattering it there and then, before getting up abruptly.

   “You mustn’t believe in such shallow words, Father...!” Her words were like pure silk, soft to the touch but extremely cold and desperate, easy to slide off from. “They are all lies...!”

   “Silence!” Alvin’s icy stare warned her to restrain such flowing emotions, preventing her from throwing yet another tantrum. Noticing the change of the tides, a soft chuckle escaped my lips.

   “You...!” Amanda dashed toward me, ready to strike, but I wouldn’t fall down that easily.

   “Or maybe...” She quickly stopped on her feet once my voice echoed, unsure of the words that were bound to come next. “... you are supportive of this behavior?”

   “Amanda! Sit back down!” Frustrated, the Duke massaged his forehead gently while exhaling. “Of course not.”

   My eyes widened for a moment. This change of stance was unexpected, especially coming from this man. But, as the sound of clacking metal echoed from the other side of the wooden door, everything became clear as day.

   The guards... Never once did the concept of walls having ears made this much sense.

   While Alvin relaxed his body, Amanda’s figure trembled with frustration. From the looks of it, she was expecting this to go how it had always been, but, this time, things would be different.

   “Accusing me of such acts... how could sister do this to me...?” After breaking the overwhelming deafness of the room, crocodile tears gathered around Amanda’s eyes, making me feel extremely disgusted. I’d never seen worst theatrical display.

   I took a bite of the fresh, juicy apple and pointed towards the cover of the book confidently.

   “This is a very interesting read... did you know that most of the engagements between nobles end because of adultery?” A bright smirk spread across my lips as Alvin’s face paled. “Oh, my! Of course, you do... how many were they? Eight? Perhaps ten?”

   If it weren’t for my mother’s survival during my 9^th life, such information would still be buried underneath the Duke’s power, ready to eliminate any threats to his flawless reputation. According to her, she had been his family’s last choice, the lowly daughter of a Baron whose dowry was nothing more than a handful of gold coins, but they had no other choice. Alvin annulled a long list of engagements by staying overnight in other women’s houses and trashy brothels, constantly found out by many of his peers.

   Surely, at some point in time, he was everything a young maiden’s heart wished for, but now he was merely a fraction of his former youth. His chocolate eyes were held by two heavy, yet dark eye bags and that bony face had clearly seen better days. However, it was when his light skin became tainted with anger, his expression still bitterly stern, that a bold of satisfaction passed through me.

   “You dare speak to me in that tone!?” Strands of his dark brown hair fell once he got up and banged his hands on the wooden table, declaring his dominance over the conversation.

   Did I hit a nerve...? I took another bite of the apple before twirling around the study room. Amanda’s body completely frozen as my figure faced hers, right next to each other.

   “It seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, wouldn’t you say, Duke?” My free hand grabbed some loose pieces of my sister’s hair; a beautiful look of pure disgust stamped on her face. “I wonder how the Trace’s would feel after... well...”

   “Ophelia Criswell! Leave this room immediately!” Alvin’s voice echoed loudly. In his right hand, a quill broke into two large pieces, one of which was bound to sink into the ground soon.

   “As you wish.” Slowly, I paid my respects and appreciated that man’s marvelous face, filled with anger, hate and disdain for his own blood. “Thank you for the little chat. It was extremely pleasant.”