Blood Contract with her Royal Villainess

♕CHAPTER 11♕

♕CANA ANNALIS ♕

♕♕♕

I’m sitting on the chair at my veranda as I try to calm myself down from crying, while Viggo is just standing behind me, without uttering any words.

I blow my nose in my handkerchief without minding my title as a noble lady. I don’t care if someone will think of me as unfit to be a lady. I am not in the mood to think of my reputation and keep my façade as a lady in this household.

“Is that how a lady should act?” Viggo said as he placed a cup of tea on the table in front of me. I just glared at him, but that never bothered him.

“I don’t care. No one thinks of me like a lady here anyway,” I replied to him and rolled my eyes. I grabbed the handle of the cup and took a sip of the tea to calm myself more.

I knew it. The Duke will not follow me or even stop me from walking out of his office. He never even followed me here, I did not even get any response from him about the things I said to him earlier, but I guess I can’t really blame him since I did not wait anymore for his response and just walked out due to my overwhelming emotions. I thought to myself and took another sip of the tea.

Or maybe, aside from the fact that I can feel Kiera’s pain with her relationship with her father, I think the fact that I can also relate to her when my biological father left us when I was still young. Kiera and I have the same experiences. We’re both seeking our father’s love and attention; we both wanted our fathers to guide us as we grew up, but we both got nothing of these, which is why the pain is unbearable to the point that Kiera ended up this way. I sighed and stared at my reflection on the tea.

“Maybe, this is also why I can relate to this character,” I whispered, and I didn’t notice that Viggo heard me say something which made him curious.

“Did you say something?” he asked, so I looked at him, and I quickly shook my head. Then, I saw him wince while staring at me and pull out his clean handkerchief from his pocket.

“Wipe your face. You look like a stupid child left on the roadside,” he said as he leaned closer to me and volunteered to wipe my face. I would have thought about this as a romantic gesture, but no, he rubbed the handkerchief on my face like he wanted to remove my skin.

“Ah! Tch! You’re just making fun of me!” I angrily smacked his hand and took the handkerchief from him while glaring at him, but he just laughed, mesmerizing me. I even saw his two pointy fangs hiding in between his teeth.

“Pfft hahaha,” he laughed, but as he noticed me staring at his face, he quickly stopped himself from laughing.

Wow, he looked more handsome when he’s laughing. I complimented him as I stared at his pretty face.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?” he asked, which snapped me back to my senses. I wiped my face and shook my head at him.

“No, it’s just that; I realized that you look more handsome if you’re laughing,” I replied to him, and I guess he did not expect that. I noticed his pale face turning red as he blushed.

“Tsk! What are you talking about!?” he said angrily, then he walked back inside my room, while my eyes just followed him, confused on why he acted like that when I complimented him. I shook my head in disbelief and sighed as I stared up at the cloudy sky.

Thanks to Viggo, I’m no longer thinking about what happened earlier. I thought.

I think it would be better to just focus on planning a business that I can establish in this era, or I should just look for a place far from here. I can’t take it anymore. I don’t want to live in this mansion filled with people who never gave importance nor respect to me as a Lady of the Romulus family. I thought to myself and took a deep breath before standing up and walked my way towards the bookshelves inside my room. I search for a book that could entertain me as I lock myself in this room. I almost finished reading all of Kiera’s books, so there are only a few left untouched, and one thing I noticed about her book collection is that they are all about magic, which made me wonder.

I picked three unopened books and grabbed my notebook where I wrote my plans for my life in this era. I walked towards the veranda again and sat on my chair, then I placed the books on the table and grabbed one of them as I stared at the title written on its cover.

“Viggo,” I called my vampire slave s***h butler, who is now sitting comfortably on the soft couch, and he just looked at me with one eyebrow-raising, as if asking me what?

“Is magic real?” I asked him as I show him the books I am holding. He walked back to where I was sitting and settled himself on the chair across from me.

“Did you get tired of crying, and now, you wanted to immerse yourself in reading?” he questioned, and I just raised my right eyebrow at him, but he just scoffed at me as he stared at the books on the table.

“Yes, magic is real,” he answered my question.

“Have you seen one?” I asked again because I think this magic is responsible for my sudden appearance in this novel, and it is a way for me to get back to my own time.

“Not yet, but there’s a legend that says that magic started when this world began, and a Goddess gave this magic to the witches, wizards, and alchemists,” he replied. I quickly took note of that information, as if I am still in a university and listening to my professor.

“Is this your first time hearing about that?” he asked, and I nodded my head as an answer.

“Seriously?” he asked again, which made me wonder.

Am I supposed to know about that? I questioned myself and looked at him.

“Why?” I asked. Then he gently pats his nape as he stared at the books in front of us.

“If my guess was right, I had a taste of magic from your blood,” he said that shocked me.

Is that because I came here through that black book? I asked in my head.

“A-Are you sure?” I inquired, and he looked at me.

“I smelled a small percent of magic from the Duchess’s blood too,” he admitted. These revelations are giving me more questions in my head that I wanted to be answered.

Does this mean that we somehow came from the line of witches or wizards?

“Can you tell me more about the witches and other creatures who can wield magic and use it?” I asked for a favor, but he just shook his head.

“I don’t have time for that, so just read your books. You have a lot of books in this room that talks about magic,” I rolled my eyes at his response.

What a jerk he is, tch! I thought and scanned the books in Kiera’s room. Maybe the reason why she has a lot of books about magic is that she already knew her identity?

Wait, so does that mean that I, as Kiera, came from a bloodline of witches? Here I am calling Keisha a witch, and I’ll just found out that there is a probability that I’m the one with witch blood on my veins? How ironic that is. I thought and shook my head in disbelief.

“Hey, what do witches look like?” I raised a question again, and Viggo just placed his arms on the chair's armrest and placed his face on his right palm.

“They said, witches have this unique beauty, and most of them have red hairs and green eyes,” he answered, so I checked my hair and its color brown, but I knew that my eyes are green, same as to the Duchess, but her hair is orange.

So the myths about witches having long pointy noses and crinkled skin are not true? I thought as I remembered how the people from modern times describe witches.

“Are they also using, uhm…broomsticks as their mode of transportations, or perhaps, do they have black cats as companions?” I asked again, and he shook his head.

“No. Where did you get those ideas from?” he asked as he looked at me as if I’m a weird woman, but I can’t blame him since that’s what I grew up with as a myth.

“But where are they now? I mean, the witches and wizards?” I inquired again then he sat properly and looked at the books on the table.

“A war erupted when the dragons vanished from this world, and there were werewolves and witches who serve as guardians for something sacred. I don’t know if that something was a dragon, all I know is that they were hunted too because of their powers, just like what they did to my clan, and now, those creatures are scattered around the world while hiding their identities as a gypsy or a regular traveler in other empires,” Viggo explained.

If that’s the case, then there is a big possibility that the Duchess and Kiera came from witches or wizards' bloodlines. I thought as I nodded my head.

“During my own time, we all thought that the dragons, witches, and vampires like you are just mythical creatures,” I said without thinking, and he looked at me, confused.

“Your own time?” he asked, and that’s when I realized how stupid I am to let those words escape my mouth.

“I mean, now, in this era, hahaha,” I clarified, and he just shook his head. I took a deep breath and decided just to shut my mouth and focused on reading the books that discuss the history of magic and its origin. I keep searching from the books about it, and everything that Viggo said was true. Everything in this world started when the Goddess gave magic to the whole world. And that dragons are real too. However, they’re already gone and no longer exist in this world.

I was busy with my reading when suddenly a knock came from the door, one after another.

“My Lady! The Duke!” I heard Krista yelling from the outside of my room, and the way she speaks made me nervous. I looked at Viggo and saw him looking at me too, and as if he had read my mind, he run towards the door in just a blink of an eye and opened the door. I also strode my way towards the door and saw Krista panting and catching her breath.

“What happened?” I inquired.

“The Duke. He’s going to kick out most of the knights and guards of the Romulus estate,” Krista reported.

“Huh? Why would he do that?” I asked as the three of us quickly walked our way towards the training ground, where I am guessing that removing the knights and guards is currently happening.

“It’s because none of them wants to serve as your guard Lady Kiera, and also because of their disrespectful behavior towards you, My Lady,” Krista answered that made me stop in my tracks as we arrived at the entrance of the training ground. I saw all the knights and guards lining up in front of the Duke. Even the general, who has now recovered, is with them and bowing their heads in front of the Duke.

I also noticed Keisha, with her guests, standing at the side of the training grounds, watching the commotion, while the Duchess stood beside the Duke.

I don’t know, but I feel like crying out of joy. I can see the anger from the Duchess and the Duke’s eyes. It’s probably because they just found out about the things that Kiera went through.

“How dare you disrespect my daughter in my territory!?” I heard the Duke yelled at the men standing in front of him, but none of those men was able to say anything.

“No one wants to serve as her guard, because of what reason!?” the Duke asked again and was answered by silence.

“I took you all in and provided your daily needs, and all I am asking for you all is to protect my family, but this is how you repay me!?” the Duke’s voice bombarded as his glaring eyes looked at each of the knights.

I watched in silence as I stood a few feet behind the Duke and the Duchess. I just observed how sincere the Duke in defending his daughter Kiera.

“Each one of you standing in front of me, I am removing you from your duty, and I sentence you all banishment from the Romulus estate!” the Duke shouted, and I saw some of the knights on the verge of crying as they have lost their job.

Being a knight is an honor and already a part of their life. This is their pride and joy as they live their life in the Romulus estate since most of them are just commoners whom the Duke saw potentials and took them in as knights for the Romulus family.

But due to their treatment towards Kiera, I can’t help them anymore and just let them leave as they trudge their way out of the estate. If only they just did their job and respected Kiera, this would not have happened, and their families would have lived a better life.

“Your Grace! Please, I am begging you, don’t do this to me. I have served your family for many years already, Your Grace, please, reconsider!” the general begged, but the Duke shook his head.

“I treated you as a part of my family, but you treated my daughter as if she’s an outsider and does not belong in this household. What use there is for your long service if you can’t even respect and identify your own master?” the Duke asked him, full of spite and anger, but I felt happy when he uttered those words. I never expected that there is also this side of the Duke where you will be amazed and touched by how he treats you.

“I don’t need men like you in the Romulus estate! Begone and never show your faces to me!” the Duke shouted as he pointed at the gate of the Romulus. Then, in just a day, half of the knights of the Romulus estate were gone and left the manor.

Once the commotion has finished, the Duke and Duchess turned around and walked back to the main mansion, and on their way back, they saw me standing and watching them as the urge of hugging them tightly rages inside me.

“Kiera? What are you doing here?” the Duchess asked and hugged me tightly.

“Forgive me, Kiera, if I was not able to notice their mistreatments to you and for not being brave enough to stand up for the both of us,” the Duchess said while caressing my back, and I hugged her in return.

“No, Mother, you have always been brave. Thank you for defending me,” I whispered to her, and I noticed the Duke staring at me while standing in behind the Duchess.

“I’m sorry for not being an ideal father to you Kiera, I was blinded, and I did not notice your hardships, such as this one,” the Duke said.

It feels great hearing those words from him. I also wanted my biological father to say those words before, and now that I have heard the Duke uttered those words, I am feeling a bit emotional now.

I let go of the Duchess and approached the Duke, then I hugged him tightly, which surprised him, maybe because he never expected that Kiera would do such a thing, but I know that she would love to hug her father.

“Thank you, father,” I whispered, and I felt his warm and tight embrace as he kissed the top of my head.

As the three of us talked happily, and forgiveness was given to each of us, I did not notice that Keisha was left standing at the side of the training ground, and when I finally realized that, I looked in her direction and saw her eyes glaring at me. I can see the jealousy and hatred from her face as I have received the attention and love that she once had. It was so obvious on her face, to the point that even her friends can see her true emotions now.

Keisha, you may not notice it, but you’re the one who is ruining your image in front of the people whom you have tricked into our kind act. Now, everyone can see your true color. They can see how wicked the real Keisha is. I thought to myself as I stared at her.

Keisha, why can’t you just be happy for me and join us wholeheartedly? Why do we have to fight over the things that we both owned? These are the things that I wanted to tell her, but I know that she will never listen to me. I took a deep breath and removed my gaze at her as I joined the Duke and Duchess as they happily talked with me.

“Kiera, I was just thinking, now that you have graduated from the academy, why don’t you handle that piece of land that the emperor gave to us and make use of your knowledge to make it prosperous?” the Duke said, which almost made me stop in my tracks. I looked at him as I could not believe that he would give me such an important role. I also noticed the Duchess's surprised look as she stared at the Duke.

“Y-Your Grace, a-are you certain?” I stuttered, and he nodded his head.

“There is an existing castle in that land, and base on what the emperor’s second-in-command, he said that the place only needed to be fixed and organized, then, it will be ready for occupancy, and you can start using that land as a new land of the Romulus,” the Duke said. I looked at the Duchess, and she did the same to me.

I can see in her face the happiness and shock with this sudden responsibility, and since this is a crucial task, it only means that the Duke trust Kiera now.

I looked behind me where Viggo is standing with Krista with teary eyes as she smiled at me. I smiled at the two of them and faced the Duke.

“If this is what you want, then I will gladly accept it, father,” I replied to him, and he nodded at me. I covered my lips as the smile on my face won’t stop.

I can’t believe it. I’m going to have my own castle! I thought excitedly.

Now, I no longer need to borrow money from Diana to leave this place! I thought happily, then turned to look at the Duchess and saw her smiling at me sweetly as if saying that she trusts me and that I can handle this task without worry.

I was happy about this news, but then, a thought came to my mind.

Is it alright if I just leave the Duchess in this mansion? Especially that I knew who killed her. 

It was no other than Keisha herself.

TO BE CONTINUED