Chapter 12: The Elrod Grand-duke
''Would she reply to my letter?'' A deep, smooth voice sounded within an office. A man with familiar oceanic blue eyes and silver hair stared at another man at the front of a desk. His elbows were on the desk, and his chin rested on the back of his hands. His brows were creased together, and his lips faced down, it was obvious that he was displeased about something...or someone.
''Your excellency, Her lady…'' The other man, the aide of the grand duke, could not give a definite answer, as he knew better than anyone how the father and daughter behaved around each other.
Like strangers.
''I expected Dante to take care of her..''
The aide wiped the cold sweat off his forehead at the aura the grand duke emitted. The latter called the duke hayes by his first name, indicating that he had lost his respect for his son-in-law.
Veins appeared on the Grand duke's clasped hands, and those blue eyes became dim and frosty. His jaw clenched, and his voice came out in form of a snarl, ''But..what I am hearing in the south right now?!''
The aide said nothing. He knew how much the grand duke loved his daughter, even if people said otherwise; he was one of the few people who had seen the Grand duke's love for her.
No one had seen the Grand duke take care of his daughter when she was running a fever.
No one had seen the Grand duke show a small smile when the tutors told him of her brilliance.
No one had witnessed the Grand duke showing lonely eyes when his daughter avoided him in fear.
''Caspian, prepare divorce papers. I am taking my daughter away from that animal,'' The Grand duke decided as he stood up from the chair. He went to the window that had a vase of slightly wilted flowers near it.
The grand duke touched the petals as the face of his smiling young daughter shone across his mind. He heard the sound of the door closing, but he did not concentrate on that.
'Again, I have failed you as a father.'
Unlike his sparkling silver hair that shone because of the sun's rays that poured on it, his heart was dim and sad as he thought his act of making his daughter marry someone was a good decision.
A good decision to make her have that bright smile again, but it seems he made it worse.
He hated this world. The world that took his lovely wife and made his daughter continuously suffer. To him, the world was unfair to his family. He wondered why they should suffer. What did they do? Why are pain and sadness familiar to them? Unfortunately, no one could tell him.
When his wife died, she took his heart along with her, and the child she left behind was the last piece of her in this world. Even if he tried to care for the child, he couldn't, as his heart bore grievance and hatred towards her for taking his wife away from him.
He knew that a tiger could not devour its cubs, and the child did not deserve that kind of father. He thought maybe a safe distance was good for both of them, but he was wrong.
The child that he secretly watched and monitored stopped calling him father thanks to those servants. The child, that took after his looks, but resembled his wife in character, especially their love for flowers.
He could feel a distance between them that seemed to increase every second....until now.
''Your excellency! There is a reply from the lady!'' The aide opened the door with a little force, like the letter was the best news. His brown ponytail became loose, and his dark green eyes shook with joy as he went to the desk.
The grand duke snapped his head in his direction. The movement was swift and sharp, like his head could break just from it.
He collected the envelope from Caspian, and his blue eyes twinkled, staring at the envelope in his trembling hands.
'She sent a reply?' He still could not believe it and unsealed the envelope to take out the folded letter.
Caspian watched as his master read the letter and waited for him to say something. His gaze caught a slight pause, and he wondered, 'is the lady's reply not good?'
''She misses me…'' He heard a doubtful whisper from the Grand duke, then he heard it again but a little louder.
''Isla said that she misses me,'' A solitary tear trickled down the Grand duke's cheeks as he stared at the four words on the paper.
'I missed you, father.'
He wished he could hear her say those words, but something else was written on the letter that definitely disturbed him. Nevertheless, he was happy about the new addition to his family tree.
''Ah...caspian, buy every toy you can find in the south…no that's not enough. Send a letter to the butler in the capital, tell him to buy every toy in the capital right now.'' He turned to Caspian with a doting smile, something that had never appeared since the grand duchess' death. ''My grandchild will be entering this Grand-duchy soon.''
''...Eh?'' Now Caspian blanked out at that sentence.
—--
''My lady, you can go back to the south to nurture the baby,'' Amelia carefully suggested as she placed the plate and glass cup back on the tray. Seeing that her lady was wiping her lips with a good expression, she added, ''It will be peaceful there.''
''..I know, Amelia,'' Isla had definitely thought about that before. Since she and her father started exchanging letters, she could feel the distance between them close a bit, even if they had not seen each other for years.
''But people will talk, and I don't want to put father's reputation at risk.''
Her father was a good man who deserved a daughter that does not bring trouble to his doorstep. If she goes back, Dante would not be happy, but she doesn't care about that. They will argue, and talking to him was the last thing she wanted. The emperor might choose to intervene in the matter, and her unborn child could be exposed, which is also the last thing she wants to avoid.
Also, Annalise will definitely be involved, another last thing she wants to avoid.
In the end, they are so many consequences to bear if she decided to go back to the south with Amelia and her child.
''Yes, my lady.'' Amelia accepted Isla's decision, then brought another matter up, ''I am happy that my lady has decided to talk to the grand duke.''
''Hmm..I took after his stubbornness,'' Isla sadly laughed as she recalled some events that happened in her second life.
Her father did send a letter during the rumors, but she never replied back. Then, she always thought her father hated her for killing her mother, but it was her illusion.
She could have found out his actual feelings from his tiny actions, but she was dwelling in her misery.
Noblemen value the reputation of households, and her father could have disowned her by sending her to the countryside or forcing her to stay with her cheating husband. He could have hated her for being a used and divorced woman, but he did not.
He didn't do anything and took her back to the south.
'He even fought for your custody,' Isla recalled Amelia saying that in her previous life, but she did not dwell on it. Her father obviously could not win her son's custody, as no one was above the imperial law.
''It is good for you to stay in your mother's villa,'' He said when he called her into his office, ''You should be away from the society and unwanted eyes.''
But in her ears, it sounded like he was chasing away from the household. To her, it was nothing new.
''Father's actions say a lot more than his words, and I am happy that he never hated my existence,'' Isla smiled at Amelia, then looked at her belly, ''He will definitely love this child.''
'But we might not see each other for a long time,' Isla said in her heart, as she did not plan to tell her father about her plans. If she stays with him, there would be endless trouble, and she does not want that.
'It's okay.' Her loose strands slightly fluttered as the wind blew around her in the pavilion. She continued to rub her belly with her smile.
'I will find a way to talk to him.'
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