Dylan de Beaumon, the adopted daughter of a Duke, recalls the memories of her past-life after hitting her head. Upon realizing she was a villainess character in a novel, she decides to use her intellectual giftedness to get a good career and run awa...
Her wistful expression belied the sadness she felt at having to face the only family she had left. Both of Dylan's biological parents were dead and her half-siblings didn't know she existed. She was having a hard time with all of it, but she was still breathing.
The corners of Lucas' mouth, who had been smiling at her, dropped.
"Brother?" Lynette asked. "What's the matter?"
Lucas stared at Dylan with an expression of longing and loss. "My apologies, milady," he said, sullenly. "You just smile like someone that I used to know."
"And who might that be?" replied Dylan.
He hesitated. "My father."
Dylan bit on her lips harshly, as if trying to hold back the tears that were about to burst out at the mention of that man. She was resentful about why her life seemed to be centred around the one person who she despised the most.
"I see," she muttered. Dylan didn't bother to avoid Lucas' gaze, which was fixated on herself. She looked at him with a pitiful expression, slowly blinking her brown eyes. "I'm sure he was an honourable man."
'Honourable enough to cheat on your mother and have me.'
"May I know your name?" he asked, his eyes still fluttering with passing emotions of longing.
"Dylan," she replied with an elegant bow, "my name is Dylan de Beaumon."
A short silence enveloped the two. Dylan hoped that her existence to Lucas wouldn't just be another substitute for her dead father. She wasn't sure if she was capable of keeping up her act outside of the Duke's mansion.
Soon after, the voice of Mina came from behind her back. "Milady, we should proceed to your dormitory. You must settle in and change into your uniform before the welcoming ceremony."
"I'll be taking my leave," she said with a slight nod, bidding farewell to her siblings. "I wish you both good health. Goodbye then."
As she turned her back on them, Dylan was overwhelmed with several conflicting feelings. Blood may make you a relative but it doesn't mean that you have to be seen as family. These people knew nothing of her existence. Even if they did, would they welcome her with open arms? Would they watch her with contemptuous glares?
'You only look at me like that now because you don't know. I'm the very thing your father regretted until his last dying breath.'
***
Dylan's dormitory was equipped with a study, a bedroom, a drawing room, a dress room and a bathroom, as well as a bedroom for her maids. It was luxuriously decorated with the finest linens and furniture Dylan had ever seen.
"Milady," Jessie asked, thoroughly inspecting every corner. "Is it to your liking? Shall we request to be moved to a better room?"
Dylan smiled unconsciously and shook her head. "It's perfect."
'I once lived in a house small enough to be called a closet. If anything, this is too much.'
"Where is my paper for letters? And my quill and ink?" Dylan asked, remembering she had been asked to write to both the Duke and Edwin once she arrived.
"It's in the luggage that was sent ahead at the beginning of the week," Mina responded, frowning at the overwhelming piles of suitcases. "Milady should take her medicine and prepare for the ceremony while we unpack."
Dylan sighed. It was finally time to meet the main characters.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE:
It's finally time!
Buckle up your seatbelts and sit tight because the next chapter is going to a long one!
What do you think of Dylan's half-siblings? Comment your opinions!
