Chapter 6: A Sudden Twist II

“Hey, kid.” The Crown Prince looked at her and lend his hand. “Leave this place and come with me, I’ll treat you better.”

With the innocent yet determined face that he showed, Sera was almost persuaded. Wouldn’t it be better to leave the manor with him? However, it was the first time that she had a chance to encounter him. What if he was way more frightening than the Fiores? What if just like her family, he would just be using her to get what he wanted?

A silence ensued as everyone was waiting for her answer. She slowly shook her head and hid behind her father. She had no choice but to rely on the duke at the moment.

“I’m sorry but I want to stay with my father, your imperial highness,” she said and looked away. She couldn’t look at the eye of the person she rejected after he offered her his kindness.

“It looked like you had your daughter wrapped around your fingers, Duke.” The Crown Prince smirked but his eyebrows furrowed when he noticed that the duke was speechless.

He looked at the duke and saw that he was staring at the small hands of his daughter holding on to the hem of his shirt. He smiled at the amusing sight in front of him. It was as if he could see the way his father reacts every time the princess was acting cute.

Who would’ve known that the cold and icy duke who felt at home on the battlefield could be speechless when his daughter acted cutely? He became more interested in the lady because of what he saw. That girl could become the weakness of the Fiore family and he needed to take a hold of her.

“Sera, would you like to walk around the garden?” The duke suddenly asked the little girl.

“The garden?” Sera was confused. What was with the sudden change in attitude? The Duke never showed any interest in her before. What happened?

“Father!” Xander protested but the duke just looked at him with a stern gaze.

“Your sister had been cooped up in here since she entered the manor, she should at least be familiar with the manor as a member of the family.”

None of the duke’s sons rebutted. They all fell silent and the two couldn’t do anything when Xander went out of the annex.

It was truly a splendid sight for the crown prince. He didn’t even have to make a move; as he could see, the Fiore family wouldn’t be able to raise their influence than what they already have. With an internal conflict, no one in the family would dare covet his throne.

Alejandro offered his hand for Sera to hold. “Let’s go?”

With trembling hands, Sera gave her hand to his father. She could feel his cold hands, but there was a warmth that enveloped her. Was that the warmth that she wanted all along?

“If you’re going for a walk, then I’m coming too!” Andrei said while glaring at her.

“Me too!” Andric joined in.

“Can I go too?” The Crown Prince said with a smile but the Duke glared at him.

“Isn’t it time for his imperial highness to go back to the palace?” Alejandro said as he hid his daughter from the crown prince’s sight.

“Aren’t you being overprotective of her?” The crown prince laughed.

“She’s my daughter so it’s my obligation to keep her away from harm.”

Though Sera knew that those words were just said to push away the crown prince, she couldn’t stop her heart from being happy. How could she not? She always wanted to hear the duke call him his daughter but he never did in her entire life.

If she changed her approach in her new life, would there be a difference?

She held her father’s hand tighter and the duke looked at her. It was an awkward glance and Sera didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know how to act in front of him since he rarely visited her.

After the crown prince left, Sera tried to pull her hand from the duke but her father didn’t let go.

“Aren’t we going for a walk?”

Sera’s eyes grew wide. She thought it was just an act to push away the crown prince?

“C-can we really do that?” Sera’s voice was too low to be heard so the duke crouched down to hear her clearly. “Can we really go for a walk?”

Sera blushed. Somehow, she felt like a kid being given candy for the first time. Could anyone blame her? She never received any attention from the duke. Her life had been too short for her to witness her father’s warmth.

“Papa…” She covered her mouth when she realized that she blurted out something unnecessary. How dare her to say papa in front of the duke?

“What did you call me?”

Everyone’s eyes were on her. She felt like she would shrink anytime because of the pressure she felt from their eyes.

“I just blurted something that I heard from the streets.” She smiled awkwardly, hoping that the duke would buy her excuse. “Please don’t mind me.”

“No.”

Sera’s heart beat wildly when she heard the duke’s voice. Did she just raise a red flag unconsciously? What should she do? She should’ve just stayed quietly in her annex like before.

“Won’t you repeat those words for me?”

Sera’s eyes grew wide when she heard those words from him. Did he just ask her to call him papa again?

“Papa…” Though trembling, Sera did her best. If that’s the only way to survive, calling the duke papa would be a piece of cake!

She would do anything just to evade her death in the future. She wouldn’t sit still and wait for the verdict to come without doing anything.

“Can you repeat it again?”

Sera was getting confused by her father’s actions but she kept on doing what he asked. “Papa…”

“That’s right. I’m your papa so you don’t have to be afraid of me.”