Chapter 69: 'Not again. Not this time.'
"What was that about? The hall's abuzz."
"Oh, just a little commotion."
"A little commotion, huh?" Amelia's little informant, Oswyn, walked towards her.
The duchess rolled her eyes and gave a small smirk before leaning back. She asked the man what's his agenda for seeing her and was eager to hear everything when he told her that he was there to give some 'report' on the 'thing' he was working at—more like digging up.
"So? Dis you find anything substantial to share?"
Oswyn took a deep breath and Amelia was visibly expectant, "No," he plainly said and the duchess' face went black with her shoulders slumped.
"Wh-what do you mean no?"
"I couldn't find any paper whatsoever about your mother—about your advisor even! It's like they're ghosts."
"Ghosts? Give me a break. That can't be right, right?"
"The only documentation I have of your mother and advisor were the ones after they entered Creador, "Before that… nothing."
But her mother and advisor are part of the princess' entourage when she came here for the re-signing of the treaty.
"What about the princess from Pradour? Surely there's something about that, right?"
"I thought about that too, so I looked into it as well. I even traced some of the maids that were there at the time. They said they haven't had a clue who or what the princess looked like. When the delegations arrived, the carriage she used had its curtains closed the whole time. And as she was a valuable part of the treaty, she wore a sort of veil when she arrived and the same when going around. But then she didn't go out much though her ladies-in-waiting were going to and fro. They did note that your advisor was always by her side to assist her when she was out on state affairs."
"Her ladies-in-waiting, did any of them have silver hair?" Amelia asked. Her hair color is strange enough so people should be able to remember that when they go out.
"That's the oddest thing! It's not customary for unwed ladies in Pradour to hide their hair, but her ladies-in-waiting did. The maids said that they even have trouble recognizing who's who because they all looked the same with their faces made."
Amelia's out of her wit's end. How can someone be so invisible yet there at the same time? Just how much preparations did they make that not one soul was able to remember them?
"How about Uncle? I heard he was friends with my father, Duke Vernon, and the emperor. Someone somewhere should be able to remember him. He looks handsome even at his age now. There's no way one lady or another wouldn't be able to take note of his person when out and about with three of the most powerful men in the empire."
"They said that your advisor was often seen with the three, but he was always alone with them. They didn't mind it much since he was a close aide, almost the princess' right-hand man."
"And when did they leave?"
"Uh…" Oswyn looked up trying to loosen some stuck information from his head. "A few months after? I don't know how many months they were here, but Vance stayed behind, and a lady-in-waiting was missing from the lot."
"Could that be my mother?" Oswyn answered the duchess with a shrug, "And the princess? She came back with them?"
"Seems like it. They did mention that the princess of Pradour came and left without anyone even seeing the tips of her fingernails. Some thought she was ugly or maybe deformed. Whenever there's a gathering or any state affairs, only Vance and her three ladies-in-waiting came."
"But if my mother is one of her ladies-in-waiting, and Uncle stayed behind and even came with her to Osmea with the choice of either serving House Mulford or the emperor himself, they must have some kind of relationship, don't you think? As a knight, wouldn't he choose to be at Aclador, or maybe be among the emperor's advisors as Pradour's representative? Why Osmea? We're nothing but forests, farmlands, and research?"
"You have a point there, Lia," Oswyn casually said, bobbing his head with his fingers on his chin.
"Duchess," Amelia answered as she threw a quick glare at the researcher which he returned with a playful grin. "Be serious, Oswyn…"
"Ossie." He butted in.
Amelia shook her head, "As I was saying, Oswyn," she placed an emphasis on his name, "Why choose my father's duchy when he can be somewhere greater?"
"Could he be your mother's lover?"
"What?!" Amelia was baffled. How could he even suggest that kind of thing? "Are you out of your mind? Do you think he would be my father's trusted secretary if he were actually coveting my mother?" That's just ridiculous!
Amelia scoffed at the thought and Oswyn just gave her another shrug.
"Getting back to the topic—the princess' ladies-in-waiting. There's a possibility that one of them was my mother, right?"
"Well, could be. Given the information I gathered so far…" Oswyn paused, "Could it be that she fell in love with your father?"
Could be, right? What other reason is there for her to stay behind and leave her princess? But if she's a lady-in-waiting, it means she's from a noble family back in Pradour.
"What if Uncle and my mother were related that's why he chose to be here rather than elsewhere? That's a plausible thought, don't you think?"
Who in their right mind would exchange something big as being an advisor to the emperor to be a secretary to a duke? And her mother was a noble from Pradour good enough to be a lady-in-waiting to the princess. And if she's truly related to her advisor, then both are of noble descent. Come to think of it, her advisor always had this sort of regal air about him. He's been around since she was little that she never really noticed his ways but looking at it now from a different perspective, compared to… maybe Sir Lewis, he moves differently—the way he conducts things and just his presence and… everything.
"If they're related then he's related to you too." Amelia turned to face Oswyn.
Yes. If he's related to her mother, then her advisor is a relative.
He's a relative. Someone who's related to Amelia by blood and not by duty.
'Related by blood and not by duty,' Amelia repeated in her head as if in a trance, ignoring Oswyn's call for attention.
She didn't say much, but when Oswyn tried to make her notice him, she stopped him and waved her hand. "I want to be alone," she said. "Tell my ladies to leave the room as well," she added when the researcher stood up understandingly. "And…" she sounded, stopping Oswyn from going to the adjacent room where Constance and the others are waiting. "Tell this to no one." She demanded and he nodded before bowing and turning his back against the duchess.
Alone, Amelia stood from her desk and went over to her bed to lie down. She didn't care if her hair was messed up or if she needed to prepare for this afternoon's meeting with her council again. All she cared about was the fact—no, still just speculation that her advisor could be related to her by blood.
Her advisor who sneaked her snacks in the middle of the night when she was little.
Her advisor who patiently taught her how to dance by letting her step on his shoes.
Her advisor who comes to play with her in the garden and brings her out to town when even her mother forbade her.
Her advisor who burned his arm trying to save her when everything was crumbling down around them. Who embraced her so tight, she thought she couldn't breathe.
Her advisor who cared for and nurtured her back when she didn't have the will to live anymore.
Her advisor who smiles when he calls her Lia, or glares at her when she's done something she shouldn't have.
Her advisor with his scarred but gentle hands.
Her advisor who she fondly calls her Uncle Vance…
"What if he's really my uncle?" Amelia's lips trembled at the thought, her eyes welling from reminiscing the past they both shared. "What if he's really my uncle…" she repeated, her voice trembling a little, then paused. "…then he's leaving for the war in Pradour," she choked on the last three words as a tear trickled to her ears.
The duchess closed her eyes but that didn't stop a trickle from becoming a stream the more she thought of how her only living relative is going to war. The books were plenty informational for her to understand that going to war also meant the possibility of not coming back. And she can't take that.
No.
She can't lose someone she loves anymore.
She just can't.
What would her life be if Vance isn't there anymore to correct her?
Amelia sniffed, wiping away her tears with her arm.
"I won't… let that happen," she muttered as she got up from her bed. "Not again. Not this time." She said shaking her head, sniveling, as she around her table and rummaged for a blank paper to write on.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone