Chapter 2

Episode 2

I remember feeling humiliated, disgraced... no...hollow. No one had ever visited me out of goodwill, and the Grand Duke is no exception -  I shouldn’t have expected him. Even in the rarest cases, the only guests who came were my half-siblings and their mother and those days, to say the least, weren't good days. I still had scars bound onto my skin that tormented me in my sleep. 'Ophelia? Ophelia!'

'Oh, Father. I apologise... I was just taken aback.' 

‘As I was saying, don’t fret and put your worries to rest, in the Grand Duke’s stead, his butler has attended.’

‘Yes Father,’ it was clear that Father didn’t favour the butler’s attendance, evident in the red flourishing across his face. It’s always best to give short quick answer to Father, especially when he’s mad.

'Yes, Mr Orsbon.'  So that's the butler's name, Mr Orsbon. Anyone would recognise that surname, he's from the Duchy of Orsbon - one of the three oldest and most respectable families in the Empire. They were the ones who established the foundations of the Empire and because of this, their immense power made them a threat but also an ally to the Imperial Family. It was a rumour that they pulled the strings behind the scene, using the Imperial family as a facade.

'My daughter can be' I winced as Father squeezed on my shoulder, 'What's the word? Ah, yes a dreamer, a dreamer that it. Always caught up in her world.' he chuckled sheepishly, 'I profoundly apologise on her behalf.' 

'No need for apologies My Lor-'

'Please...call me Frank.' Father seemed to make more mistakes, although he was a butler yet he was still a man of higher standing and to interrupt a Duchy member was frowned upon. The face Orsbon made that day is forever memorable: when his brows arched his forehead shivered up with wrinkles and the same stern and serious face, in which he always wore, shifted slightly and had a lasting effect on Father. 

'My apologies... again.'

'My Lord, as I said before, there will be no need for apologies.' he sighed and pressed his face against his forehead. Clearly, this wasn't his first time, dealing with difficult people. 'I've come here in place of the Grand Duke and as he's being accompanied by the recent outbreaks of war, he won't be able to attend the wedding.' he paused and unravelled a crisp, lengthy sheet. ‘We will need the Lady, who is to marry the Grand Duke, to sign the documents.

'That hardly excusable!' he boomed but that was the wrong move and the last straw for Orson.

'Father, if the Grand Duke does not wish for a wedd-'

'Ophelia do not disturb me. Mr Orsbon, how are we supposed to establish a relationship between-'

'Need I remind you that this marriage is in our favour... My Lord. There will be no need for a diplomatic relationship. I was instructed to only collect your debt.'

The silence was loud and was the only thing familiar to me in an unfamiliar situation. It was comforting. 

'Mr Orsbon, I'll sign the papers now.'

'Yes, My Lady' I held eye contact with him for a moment and saw something I had never encountered. I don't know what it was but the look in his eye was dark but confused and whatever it was it wasn't something I should trust.

From there, everything else is a blur, a mixture of everything. No order, no sense, just memories. 

But what I know for sure, is that in the here and now, I'll die and live again and again and again.

That never failed me.

Why should it now?

End of Episode