Chapter 5

It's been three days and there still no signs of Lianne, everyone in the Ronnenburgh family were starting to panic because the Prince is a few days away to discuss the other details of the marriage. "That ungreatful child, she will be the death of me!!" The Duke claimed, he was greatly anxious of the situation.

"Please remain calm, Father. We still have a few days before the Prince comes back to our residence." Leandro patted the back of his father, but he was just as anxious as he is, but he maintained a very calm appearance.

"Remain calm?! HOW THE HELL CAN I STAY CALM WITH THAT CHILD MISSING! SHE IS THE KEY FOR THE SUCCESS OF HOUSE RONNENBURGH, AND SHE IS MISSING! WHAT MUST WE DO WHEN THE PRINCE RETURNS?!"

Leandro weighed his hands on his father's shoulders as he tried to assure him. "We got Louie, Father. Please don't panic too much. It is just a discussion about the plans for the marriage. It will still take a few months for the grand event to actually happen."

"I KNOW!… I know." The Duke had his shaking hand covering half of his face, "But we can't keep fooling the third Prince like this. We can't be caught deceiving a Royal family member, we can be killed for this unforgivable sin."

The Duke's son no longer tried to convince him not to lose hope. It was clear that nothing can help the Duke calm down from this stressful situation. After a few more days with no results, it didn't took long for the Duke to fall sick from all the stress and tension he kept building up.

"How unfortunate. I'm left to decide everything on my own again." Leandro sighed as he close the door of his father's quarter. He then proceeds to seek his youngest brother to discuss a few things.

And as he saw Louie, it seemed ridiculous to see a boy in a girl's clothing, but neither of them had no choice in this. They can not afford to let rumors spread of Lady Lianne gone missing. "You must have adapted well into that outfit, that's… swell?…" he wasn't so sure if he should even praise him for wearing something inappropriate for men.

"Err, just admit that I look silly right now, don't I?" Louie wasn't doing well either, the corset was choking his torso and he can barely move because of it.

"N-No…" Leandro hesitated, "Infact, you actually look quite identical to the real Lianne. The only difference is the voice, trying to set the tone of your voice a little more higher." 

"No need to tell me, I've been practicing. So is there something we need to talk about, brother? I know you rarely have the time to come to me for nothing."

When Leandro was exposed of his objectives, he gets straight to the point. "Very well, the Prince will be arriving here tomorrow to discuss the details of the marriage."

Louie was petrified by the news. "T-Tomorrow, so soon?" It was hard for him to face the Prince since he was almost exposed of his real identity last time. It's also difficult for him to keep acting like a noble lady since he is just a boy, any wrong move can leave a bad impression.

"That's right. I need you to prepare yourself. No matter what happens, please maintain an act of elegance and gracefulness of a noble lady. And be extra careful when speaking to his highness, never forget to set the pitch of your voice higher."

"A-Alright, I got it."

"And since you know that I'm busy, I'll be on my way now." After Leandro left, Louie reaches for a pillow and screamed out his frustrations.

"Sir Louie, the make up!" The maid warned but Louie didn't care and bother to hide his frown. "I can't possibly live like this any longer! I am a man! A man!!"

"E-Everyone who knows the secret of the Ronnenburgh's situation understands why you have to bear with this, young master. Please do not give up!"

"I even have to wear this stupid outfit when it's not even necessary!? Can't I take a break?!"

"It's the Duke's order not to let any rumor of Lady Lianne's absence spread out. So to prevent that from happening, Sir Louie must stand in the position of Lady Lianne temporarily."

"Uhuhuhu…" the maid have patted the back of her young master to atleast give a little comfort. "Just because I'm Lianne's twin brother doesn't mean I really have to do this! It's unfair! Why can't Father just hire another girl who looks like Lianne? Why must it be me?!"

"Erm, the Duke have appointed Sir Louie the role because there are no other who can pretend to be Lady Lianne. And there are no one in the empire who has traits similar to the Ronnenburgh family and other dukedoms and the Royal family. So you, who's a splitting image of your sister, has to do it." The maid have made it very clear for her young master to understand.

However, a young fifteen year old boy such as Louie can never grasp the weight of the situation because he's more likely indulged thinking how unfair his life recently. He began to pity himself, believing that he's less favored than his other siblings because he's the youngest one who had nothing to be proud of.

"I'm nothing but a tool, aren't I? They rarely even pay attention to me, so they use me at times like this when they find me useful?!" Louie began to be on the edge, and the maid have sighed exasperatedly as she lost control of the situation. "What Lianne said is true, and I never doubted her words as well. Father is selfish—no! They all are!..." and his rants goes on and on.

The maid had no choice but to listen to the young master's complaints again until he's over with, since it's always her job to ease the mood of the boy. She knows well that Louie doesn't really hate his family, rather, he seeks more attention and care from them because he was very much neglected from the time he was born. So instead of leaving the boy, she stayed by his side out of pity.