Chapitre 31: Her Rightful Seat

Every member of the duke's household had heard about the poisoning incident at the tea party. But, not all of them knew about the after effect since it was only today that Lady Alice had woken up. On the first night of the poisoning, there hadn't been any physical change.

Besides the fever, the young lady had been screeching in pain throughout the night and throwing up black blood every now and then. But, that was it.

Hence, the duchess and the three young masters who had visited Alice at that time didn't know of the change yet, since it only happened this morning an hour before Lady Alice was conscious.

Now that Kalliope had graced them with her presence in the dining hall out of nowhere, her rose-colored hair and a pair of pink eyes shocked everyone. She stood by the doorway dressed in a simple satin gown that accentuate her figure, giving her a ladylike elegance. The dark-colored dress also enhanced her charm while giving emphasize on her hair color and porcelain skin.

The duchess was struck dumb in her seat while watching this youngest daughter of hers. Obviously it was the same face but this Alice before her was beyond attractive to the point that she almost didn't recognize her. In fact, it was not an exaggeration to say that the current Alice was ten times more beautiful than her niece Ophelia.

Not only Alice's physical change did not ruin her appearance, but it only made the usually boring and timid girl appeared bewitching. The way she stood arrogantly with her poker straight back and the way her rose quartz eyes glimmered coldly highlighted her beauty in a mystifying manner.

"Cousin!" Ophelia exclaimed happily as she swiftly flew to Kalliope's side. "Did the fever go away? Because the black marks on your body have disappeared."

While she said that, Ophelia reached out to grab Alice's hand. However, before Ophelia could even touch her skin, Alice's hand avoided her smoothly. Thus, Ophelia ended up grabbing the air.

"Cous--"

Ophelia was about to complain sadly when she was suddenly met with a pair of murderous eyes that suffocate her into silence. It truly felt as though she was being strangled and large beads of cold sweat slowly trailed down her spine. Her heart pumped loudly as fear pulverized her mind.

The grand duke who was particularly sensitive to the flow of mana suddenly sensed a vicious dark aura slowly enfolding the room. He knitted his eyebrows and immediately traced the source. When his head shifted back to Kalliope, he stood up and so was Julian, his eldest son.

"Al--"

Both of them were going to call Alice when all of the sudden, the deathly aura vanished without a trace. Surprise painted their countenance as the words got stuck in their throat.

"Did you call me, Daddy?" Alice asked as she looked smilingly at the duke. Meanwhile, the second son, Elias frowned when he thought he saw his sister's eyes changed color for a second. He seemed to notice a violet light in Alice's eyes.

'Maybe it was my imagination since she looks too different than before,' Elias thought to himself.

On the other hand, the maids who were not aware of anything, were more surprised to hear Alice's form of address to the duke, and so was the butler. That was when they started to believe the rumor that was spread by some maids this afternoon.

They said the lady had changed. She no longer shy away from her father's stare. Now, she even called the duke 'daddy' so confidently.

The duke who was addressed 'daddy' all of the sudden let out an awkward cough before saying, "I thought I've told your maid to let you have your meal in bed."

"Oh, yes, Marilyn did deliver the message but I just chose to ignore it." Kalliope grinned mischievously as she bypassed Ophelia as if she was nonexistent. Being ignored so blatantly by Alice made Ophelia pale as she subconsciously clenched her fists.

'This stupid girl dares to ignore me?!' Ophelia was fuming deep down but she had no choice but to swallow it to keep her image. Besides, this was still in front of the duke and his family, and Alice was their youngest. Still, Ophelia couldn't help but gritted her teeth from having to concede to the stupid girl.

The duke frown as his voice turned somewhat stern. "You should rest."

The duchess noticed her husband's displeasure so she chose to coax her daughter immediately before he was angry. It was already rare for Alice to approach them first so the duchess did not want Alice to be scared away by the duke's temper.

"Alice dear, your father means well. You shouldn't have gotten out of bed when you've just recovered. Your body won't be able to stand it. So--"

"But, what am I supposed to do when I miss my family so much?" Kalliope supported one hand as it touched her cheek to pose a troubled and sad look. "Don't you miss me, Mommy?"

The duchess who was interrupted was immediately taken aback by Alice's word and form of address. There was even a hint of spoiled tone in her voice that strangely sounded very natural. It even sounded somewhat cute to the duchess that all the words disappeared from her mind.

"Ah...no! Mommy misses you too."

As soon as the duchess said that, she was dumbstruck at herself. She just reflexively answered in a fit of panic. Where was her etiquette?

"See? So, isn't it fine for me to join everyone today?" Alice said unabashedly as she arrived at the seat beside the duchess across from her three brothers. When the duchess saw Alice was going to sit down, she was going to say something but was quickly preceded by Alice.

"Grandpa butler, do you mind taking out another clean set of tableware for me?" She asked in a cute voice as she looked at Butler Elliard smilingly. "After all this one is already dirty."

Her comment shocked Ophelia that her face turned even paler. It was not only her who was surprised but basically everyone in the dining hall. They thought they heard it wrong when they saw Alice's innocent lovely face. For whatever reason, they had thought Alice's comment sounded like an insult to Ophelia.

"Cousin..." Ophelia called from the side. Her voice sounded weak.

"What's wrong?" Alice blinked as she tilted her head.

"That seat..."

"...is my seat," Alice interrupted her and continued the sentence herself. She then looked towards the duke. "Or am I wrong, daddy?"

Both Elias and Tristan, the third son, were speechless and utterly stunned by Alice's uncanny behavior today. 'She really asks father who favors cousin?'

They were confused by her bravery. It was already a usual sight for Alice to sit beside Ophelia while their cousin next to the duchess. And they had never heard Alice complaining or their father criticizing Ophelia. They all knew the duke was partial to Lady Ophelia. However, they were all bound to be disappointed tonight.

The corner of the duke's lips lifted slightly as he answered amusedly, "No, you're not. That is indeed your seat."

Thereafter, Alice clapped her hand once to close the issue and looked at Butler Elliard once again. "So, what are you waiting for?"

"Bring the lady a new set of tableware," the butler immediately ordered one of the maid who hurriedly bring a clean set and arranged them before Alice while they set Ophelia's plate to the side.

"Are you going to eat while standing, Cousin? That's a remarkable talent for a lady," Alice quipped as she sliced the meat on her plate in a beautiful table manner. If at first they thought they had imagined it, now everyone was sure that Lady Alice was throwing shades on Lady Ophelia.

Ophelia was so distraught that she could no longer keep her façade. They could clearly see how upset the lady was from her incredibly ashen face. Although they pitied her, none of them spoke up since the head of the family himself, the grand duke, hadn't said anything to reprimand Alice. This made them rather confused.

In the end, Ophelia could only swallow her grievance and walked to her new seat. However, her appetite had been thoroughly ruined. Julian who noticed this couldn't help but take her favorite dish and put it in her plate.

"Eat up."

With that, Ophelia could finally smile and escape the awkward situation. However, before she could relax any further, Alice asked from beside her.

"Do you want me to help you as well, Cousin?"

"Ah..." Ophelia turned to Kalliope and was met with her smiling face, but that immediately sent her body shivering instead. She wasn't sure why but there seemed to be a terrifying oppression gripping at her heart when Ophelia encountered Alice's lovely smile.

Julian frowned and was about to reprimand Alice when Ophelia replied, "N-No, it's okay. I've already got enough on my plate."

"Oh...okay!" Alice exclaimed cheerfully.

Then, all of the sudden, her hand reached out to tuck Ophelia's hair behind her ear. That action stunned Ophelia to move away but unfortunately, Alice's hand grabbed on hers tightly to prevent her from doing so.

"Shall we play after dinner, Cousin?" Alice asked. Her face beamed with excitement.

But, Ophelia shut her down in a strong reaction. "No!"

Alice jolted in surprise. "Cousin?"

Everyone turned to look at Ophelia as well. When Ophelia caught a glimpse of the duke dark complexion, she became panic and hurriedly explain.

"Ah...I'm sorry, Cousin. I was just agitated for a second. Maybe because I'm too hungry. But, I really can't since I have to host a tea party tomorrow so I have to rest early."

"That's right. I almost forgot," the duchess chirped in.

And from there the discussion was focused on the tea party. Alice didn't interrupt again and quietly ate her meal. The devil's chuckle rang in her head.

[You've got one hell of a quick hand, My Lady.]

A smile formed on 'Alice' face as she lowered her head to cut her meat.

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