After that day, Xander started bringing Sera to the training ground every day and taught her to wield the sword. Sera didn’t expect that she would have the opportunity to learn to hold the sword just like her brothers but she was so happy. She was no doubt a Fiore since she loved the sword more than anything else. If possible, she would love to live in the training ground and hold the sword every day but her body wouldn’t be able to keep up with it.
“Sera?”
She was all set when she heard Andrei’s voice outside her room. She opened the door for him and smiled sweetly when he offered his arms for her to hold onto.
“Father called for you in his office,” Andrei informed her while they were walking down the stairs. “You should go there first. I’ll wait for you by the door and I’ll send someone to inform Xander that you’ll be late.”
“Thank you, brother!” Sera went to the duke&rs
“Sera?” His father carried her and caressed her back. “Why are you suddenly crying? Did Papa say something wrong?”Sera shook her head. Though she was in a body of a child, she was supposed to be a mature eighteen-year-old lady. However, at that moment, she felt as if it was okay to be a child again. She wanted to do the things that she couldn’t do in her past life. She wanted to create memories that she never had before. If it was with her current family, she believed that it could be possible.“I’m sorry for acting like this, Papa,” Sera said in between sobs. “I just thought that I would never belong to any family since my mother died.”Her tears poured like rain as she buried her face on her father’s neck. She could feel his father’s hand gently caressing her back as he started to walk.Alejandro’s heart broke when he heard Sera’s words. Sera lived without a father for
“Sera, why are your eyes so puffy?” Andrei laughed when he saw his sister’s swollen eyes. When he noticed that the duchess was giving him a reprimanding look, he stopped laughing and kept his silence.“Sera, did something upset you?” The duchess tucked a few strands of her hair on her ear. “If there’s something that makes you sad, you could just tell me and we will do something about it.”Was that even reasonable? What if she ended up a spoiled brat because of such logic? Sera hugged her father who was carrying her in his arms.“I was just so happy that it made me cry.” She buried her face on her father’s neck out of embarrassment.“I have an announcement to make so please call Xander and Andric to my office,” Alejandro ordered Andrei before he turned to Stephanie. “Wife, let’s wait for our sons to the office.”The duchess nodded. Before they could even
After the discussion, Sera immediately went out to look for Andric. She experienced a lot of hostility from Andric in her past life and even in the current one. However, she witnessed how her family changed their attitude so she wanted to believe that Andric could be the same.It was painful to be the target of hostility but she wanted to reconcile with her whole family. So what if she got hurt a little more? Andric’s hostility was nothing compared to what she experienced before but she was still hurt. How about Andric whose feelings were brushed aside by the family that treasured him all his life?Sera looked around the garden knowing that it was Andric’s favorite spot. In her past life, she would always see Andric in the garden that was visible outside her window. She was told that the flowers in the garden were carefully chosen by the duchess and were filled with her sons’ favorite flowers. Maybe Andric had an attachment to the garden so he always
After that day, Andric tried to be casual with her. Though she failed to get closer with him, she was satisfied with the improvements. At least he wasn’t hostile anymore and the duchess wouldn’t have to worry about their relationship.“Are you excited, Sera?” Andrei asked her as he offered his arm for her to cling to. “The knights were all excited to serve the only lady born from the Fiore Family.“Will they like me?” Sera was anxious. If one of her brother could still dislike her, how much more if it was the knights and the servants? For them, her existence ruined the honor of the Fiore Family, would they really serve and protect her?“Why not? Our Sera is an adorable little lady so I know that everyone will love her!” Andrei smiled. They walked down the stairs and saw that Xander and the duke was waiting for them.“You look so pretty, Sera.” Alejandro praised his daughter when he saw how
“My lady, are you going to train today?” Rupert asked as he walked behind Sera.The three of them, including his brother, were walking towards the training ground. He heard the rumors about Young Master Xander training the young lady but he had never seen it with his own eyes. If he was lucky, he would like to watch the young lady training.“I’m not the only one training,” Sera said with a smile. She ran towards her brother when she saw Xander leaning on the entrance of the training grounds.“Are you ready for today’s training?” Xander asked her with a smile as she gently pinched his sister’s cheeks.“Yes, brother.” Sera gestured for Xander to lean closer so the latter lowered his head. “Papa allowed Rupert to be my training partner!”“Are you that happy about it?” Xander frowned as he looked at the innocent knight apprentice who didn’t even know what they were ta
“Please refrain from showing interest towards my sister, Your Imperial Highness,” Xander said with a serious tone.Sera felt the tension between the two so she decided to come between them. It wouldn’t be nice if the two of them started to brawl out of nowhere.“Your Imperial Highness, shall we settle down if you want to talk about something with us?” Sera asked politely as she looked at the benches on the side.“No, I wasn’t planning on consuming your time, Sera.” Ric laughed when he saw Xander’s annoyed expression. “I’m fine with just watching you train.”Sera was unsure but then the duke arrived and he told them that he would be accommodating the crown prince so they could go on with their training.The two bowed their heads before they proceeded to the training area followed by the Villa brothers.“Just when did the two of you become close?” Xander asked
Sera prepared herself after that day. Since she was informed that a new teacher would arrive, she wanted to have a good first impression of her. She had to be an excellent daughter to make her parents proud.It crossed her mind that she was back to doing the things before in her last life, but she knew that it wouldn’t be for naught this time. She now had a family who cherished her. She just wanted to make that family proud.“My lady, the teacher that your mother called already arrived,” Mary informed her.For the last time, she checked her appearance in the mirror. When she was satisfied with her looks, she nodded her head and smiled at Mary. Mary understood her signal and opened the door for her.She went down the stairs and found the duchess standing at the first step, waiting for her to come down.“You can just wait for me in the receiving room, mother,” Sera said shyly as she took the duchess’ hand.&
Two months. It took two months for Sera to be ready after studying under Lady Thorne. Usually, noble ladies would be taught before their light tea party. Since Sera became a noble at the age of ten, she had to catch up to everything in a span of a few months.According to Lady Thorne, teaching Sera wasn’t that hard because she was a fast learner. They were able to cover lessons that were meant to be taught for years within two months because there were lots of topics that they skipped since Sera already knew how to do it after the first try.Everyone was amazed but Sera somehow felt guilty. They thought highly of her, but she knew the truth. She was not a prodigy nor a fast learner. She was just living her second life so she was able to utilize the things she learned in her past life to hasten the lessons. What if she couldn’t reach their expectation anymore? Would they be disappointed and hate her?Though she didn’t want to overthink, she coul
“Sera, it’s time to go home,” the duchess called for her daughter who stood in front of the big tree in the middle of the ranch.“I’ll be leaving now, Tyrone. Wish me luck and I hope that you’re not jealous up there.” Sera giggled as she stood up and waved the tree goodbye. She walked towards the carriage and smiled when her mother hugged her tight.“That would be the last time that you’ll get to visit him, right?” Stephanie asked her daughter. She thought that she would be crying like she usually did, but she faced her with a warm and gentle smile.“I could still visit him from time to time, but I don’t think it would be as often as I did before.” Sera let out a sigh.“You’re lucky that your husband is not a jealous man.” Stephanie laughed as she let her daughter lean her head on her.“I’m not yet married to him.” Sera blushed so she h
The three of them ran towards the stable and mounted three horses. Since the assassins seemed to be endless, they needed a safe place to go. Tyrone was sure that the marquis wouldn’t hide his attacks anymore because he was caught and he was threatened not just by his own son but also by the Fiores.Xander was in the front while Tyrone chose to be on the tail so that they could both protect Sera. They spent almost half an hour riding their horses back to the duke’s estate but the assassins kept on chasing them.Just when they were just half a kilometer away from the estate, an assassin shot Xander with an arrow.“Brother!” Sera went down her horse to help her brother who fell from his horse. She looked at the bleeding wound and took a deep breath.“Don’t you dare heal me, Sera!” Xander said in a serious tone. He remembered that magicians only transfer the poison to their bodies every time they heal poisoned victims
“Sera…” Tyrone called her with a pleading tone. He tried to look to her eyes but she wasn’t looking his way. Though he was hidden, he saw her tremble a little.Though she heard him, Sera didn’t want to listen. Was it all a ploy to lure her out? She shouldn’t have followed her useless emotions!“Don’t you dare call her name with that filthy mouth of yours!” He really wanted to cut his neck at that moment but he restrained himself. He didn’t want to break Sera’s heart out of his anger.“Sera… Please, listen to me.” He tried to take a step towards her but Sera took a step back as if she already closed her mind about him. She just said that she would trust him!But how could he trust her words? She knew that Sera went through a lot. She had a terrible trust issue and he was lucky that she trusted him. He should’ve told her earlier. He should’ve told her before Xa
After that, Alaric went back to the palace while the duke told his family – except for Sera – about what he heard. The three were enraged and the duchess had to stop them from killing Tyrone who was waiting for the duke to open the gates for him.How could he be so brazen to request an audience with their father? They entrusted their precious sister to him because they believed that Sera chose the right man but he was the one who almost brought her to her deathbed!Xander sat beside Sera and tucked a few strands of her hair to her ear. “Wake up now, will you?”He bit his lips. Though the priest said that she was out of critical condition, she still needed to be monitored. They were also instructed not to wake her up because her body needed to recover from the stress and the poison.“If not for Mother, I would have killed that bastard out there,” Andric said in gritted teeth. Did they have fun trying to lure Sera out of
“I finally found the evidence that the prisoner talked about, Your Imperial Highness.” Andrew gave his master the documents that he asked to take as evidence.Alaric smirked. “Did you say that this is from the House of Gale?”“Yes, Your Imperial Highness.”Alaric put down the documents and clenched his fist. How dare them? How could they send their son to seduce her and attempt to take her life from the shadows?“The lady has to know about this.” Alaric stood up and prepared himself to visit the Fiore Duchy.On the other hand, Tyrone stormed into his father’s office with clenched fists and gritted teeth.“My Lord, you shouldn’t do this!” The butler tried to stop him but he just pushed the old man away.“What is this commotion about, brother?” Tiana asked when she saw the fuming Tyrone being held back by his father’s knights.
Sera woke up the next day with a bright smile on her face. She was in a good mood because she would be having a date with Tyrone that day.“You seemed inspired today, My Lady.” Mary teased her.“Well, I’ll be out on a date today.” Sera giggled in excitement.“Then I should make you the loveliest girl in the empire today.” Mary laughed as she prepared her bath.“I don’t think I need that anymore,” Sera said confidently. “I bet I’m the loveliest in his eyes no matter how I look.”“I bet he’s just a blind man in love.” Andric entered his room and sat on her bed.“What are you doing here, brother?” Sera asked before she entered her bathroom.“I just went to check on you before my morning training.” Andric stood up and walked towards the door. “Sera, be careful always, okay?”“Don’t worry. I
Her brothers were worried when she went home that day. They thought that Sera wouldn’t have the courage to reject Prince William or that she would have no choice but to marry the crown prince instead. They were mad when they thought that it was a ploy of the emperor to marry her into the imperial family.That was why they were all shocked when Sera returned with a grin on her face.“What happened?” Xander asked with his left brow raised when he saw how happy Sera was.“I’m going on a date tomorrow.” Sera smiled and continued walking inside the manor.“You’re going on a date with the second prince? I thought Lord Tyrone was your lover?” Andrei exclaimed loudly that even the servants looked in their direction.“What are you talking about, brother?” Sera asked him in surprise. “Why would I go on a date with the His Highness William? Of course, I’ll go on a date with Tyrone!&
The duke sent a reply asking for permission to visit the palace instead of just simply sending a letter as an answer. When Sera’s brothers heard about the sudden proposal, they rambled about how the princess only saw Sera as a mere tool that would give them an advantage in their power struggle.Because of that, their view of Tyrone became better. They believed that Tyrone would treat Sera better than any other guy because he only saw her as her and not as the duke’s daughter.“You better give him a piece of your mind, Sera,” Andrei said with a gentle smile.“I think smacking his head would be better,” Xander suggested.“No, brothers. She just needed to tell them to stop bothering her and tear the proposal right in front of him,” Andric added.Sera laughed awkwardly. Just why were her brothers suggesting she do something that would send her to the palace dungeons?“Don’t mind your br
“We’re done!” Xander laughed as he laid himself on the grass. He hugged his sheathed sword and rolled around to go towards Sera.“Brother, why are you playing around?” Sera crouched down and messed her brother’s hair. “You’re not your usual mature self.“Give me a break from time to time, will you?” Xander chuckled as he closed his eyes, savoring the warm touch of his sister. “You’re grown up now so I could relax a little more.”Sera sat on the grass and moved Xander’s head on her lap. She didn’t know how to express her gratefulness towards the brother who gave her his time to teach her the sword. She knew it wasn’t an easy task knowing that he was also training with the sword and training as a successor.“Thank you, brother.” Sera smiled as she continued to brush his hair with her fingers.“Why are you thanking me suddenly?” Xand