My heart dropped when I saw how the duke looked at me. After I told him, I had no recollection of the past event, I was for sure done. First I thought it was a good idea since I really couldn't remember anything. Not to mention that I was actually not the person this body belonged to and then there is also the fact that I had memories of the 21st century. Yeah it was definitely not wise to tell him about that or he would think I was crazy. It would make sense if I would say I just had a traumatic experience and couldn't think and remember anything and I was scared as well but for that I definitely wasn't scared enough. I was more curious and calm than scared which made me look even more suspicious and I knew that soo well. It was just something I couldn't change at all.
Then suddenly a thought popped up in my mind. It wasn't there before so I was quite shocked when it came cause the concept of shock was nothing new to me as a 21st century girl but what about this timeline?! Did the people know what a shock was or what it could do to the mind? Would this man understand what I was saying or not? Would he even care?
"Mr. Underwood?"
"No mister. Call me either father or dad... or just Oliver for now."
"Is everything okay?"
Now the only thing I could do was act cute and confused instead of actually scared because I totally failed that soo damn much. Oh well it was not as if I would die because of that. On second thought that was exactly what could happen. Lucky me, I couldn't see any kind of weapon close to this man. Then again what was stopping him from using his inhuman power such as magic or his strength to kill me? Right now I was just a small girl with no power, no background and no one backing me up at all. This could end up soo fatal for me if I was not careful at all.
Oh god!
Did I mess up already?!
How did I do that?
I am not even a day here....
Oh wait...
How long was I even out?
Come to think about it, I kinda feel sore from just laying around.
While my mind was in a small state of panic, I saw Oliver look at me with something I could only say could be worrying. He even stood up to walk towards me and come over to crouch in front of me. His gentle touch was something that scared me and I flinched immediately. It was not something I could control at all, I was just soo surprised about the sudden hug that I couldn't get what was going on at all. Yes, I knew about this character quite a bit but this was definitely surprising. Was he trying to act or was this sincerity? No matter what it was, it was not important at all right now. As long as I would live, everything was fine.
"You poor girl."
"Hm?"
"Do you remember anything? Anything at all?"
"No... is that bad Mr-"
"Father."
"Father...."
"No. It is not."
"... then will I stay here with you?"
"Yes."
Alright this is more than awkward!
How do I act?
What should I say?
Wait a moment... Why should I even act at all?!
At this point, I was starting to get irritated by my own mind. For once I didn't want to act at all but then it would be suspicious about a child who was definitely a lot more mature for their age. However, don't people say that tragedies change people? Is this not what the main characters always encounter? Furthermore, is that not a good thing for me if no one knows who I am? Maybe this was a chance to change everything. Not as if I could basically sit idle and do nothing! I was not a person who would let people tell me what to do or who I was. I was the one defining my own destiny and my fate! It was in my hands to change and mold my own future. That was what I proved all these years and that was what I managed to do. Now who said, I couldn't be myself and be just the one element who could change the whole genre?!!!
"I will call the doctor over. It is not surprising that you can't remember anything."
"What do you mean Mis-"
"Please call me father from now on."
"I'll try."
"You've been asleep for two weeks straight. They said it was a miracle that you survived."
"Do you know me father?"
"No... but you are definitely an Underwood."
Yeah sure!
I know!
Curse these golden eyes!
Curse this book!
I know why I hated it!
Nothing made sense and no matter what, the whole plot was designed to kill the duke family!
Not that I am one of them, I can't let that happen!
After all, I am not tired of life yet!
"Do you know your name?"
"No..."
I could have lied and told him any name or my real name but would that make sense? I didn't know about this area, I didn't know about the names that existed in this world and I didn't know anything about anything. No matter how much I knew the story line, nothing could give me a clue about a nice name that would fit me. Not to mention that I was soo bad with names that I couldn't even remember the duke's name or this guy's name. I was kinda relieved that he told me to actually call him father cause otherwise, I was for sure calling him something wrong. Names were always something I could never get right at all. Last time I needed to remember names, it took me months to get the person straight and even then the only reason why I remembered these names and the faces was due to their unique things they had with them be it a bag or even a haircut. Let's just say I was a hopeless case when it came to names and faces. That was something I was not proud of at all.
"Then I will give you a name if you don't mind."
"MH!"
"From now on, you will be Viviana. It means life."
Viviana?
Sounds like a nice name not gonna lie.
Vivi...
Mh!
I like this name!
"Viviana... I like it!"
"I am glad. So from now on if anyone asks you who you are, just introduce yourself as Viviana Underwood the daughter of Oliver Underwood."
"Alright."
Yeah... not a chance I will remember your name...
It was only now that he let go of me but he decided to still crouch in front of me and I could see that he was happy but at the same time concerned. Maybe it was even a pity that I could see in his eyes right now but it was kinda hard to read this guy's face since he was smiling at me. Yet all the emotions were soo clear to see in his eyes.
"Anything you want to know?"
How about everything?
There was one topic I wanted to ask but I knew I was forbidden from asking because it would hurt Oliver. It was his late wife. I wanted to know if she was still alive or who she was since the story never mentioned her at all besides that she passed away after giving birth to his second son. Though I couldn't help it and was curious about my new family.
Maybe I should ask about my family more but that could also seem suspicious. Would it be normal for a kid with memory losses to ask a lot? I don't think so. So instead of asking a lot, I decided to just look at my new father and remain silent.
"Take it slow."
He remained in front of me for a bit before calling over a maid, it was the same one that was in my room earlier and looked higher ranked than the others. I still didn't know her name yet nor how things were working around here. All I could really do was observe and remember.
"This is Emilia, your personal maid."
"Hello."
"Hello princess, feel free to tell me anything you need. I will serve you with the best I can do."
"Viviana, if you have any questions ask her anything. If you need anything, tell her what you need. Don't be shy at all."
"Okay.... Where are you going father?"
"I'll be right back. I will bring a doctor over first."
Ah...
And what am I supposed to do?
You can't just leave me alone here!
This duke or more like the next duke in line was definitely something else. He was a bit hard to figure out and I was not sure if he was happy I was here or not. Maybe it wasn't even important to question this because I was in this room and he gave me a name. So there was literally no other place I could stay for now. Even if I wanted to run away, there was just no place for me to run to. I don't even know where we were quite literally besides that this was the duke's residence, a huge castle which probably would rival the king's castle.
"Is there something you want to know?"
This is what Emilia asked right after the duke left. A couple of seconds after the door shut, there was just silence and I was looking at the door quite in disbelief at what just happened. I was sure that the duke would either kill me or be suspicious or he would just regard me as another toy. Yet he gave me a name and told me I had a personal made. Knowing the personality of Oliver was one thing but in reality he was definitely a lot more complicated than what he seemed in the book to be.
"Can I really stay here?"
Time to act cute!
I need support character and it would be bad if my personal maid would be against me!
"Of course. This room was specially prepared for you."
"For me?!"
How in the world did they do that in two weeks?!
Magic?
No... magic can't solve everything for sure.
"Yes princess. The day the young master brought you in, he insisted that you would be given the best room there is."
"Why tho?"
"Our princess is just a very lovely lady. He must have felt the same."
"Does father have a family?"
"Yes. In fact you have 2 older brothers. I believe you will see them very soon."
"Alright."
Yeah...
Thanks for the information... Should I pray more?
Better not...
Since time would tell me a couple of more things, I decided to stop asking her for more and just be there in the room and wait for my father to come back with a doctor. However what I thought would be just one man or woman was actually not one person but about six of them. They all came into the room and looked like they were crying. I was feeling bad for them seeing them this relieved and enthusiastic but also at the verge of tearing up. There was only one thing that came to my mind which must have happened.
He threatened them with their lives for sure.... If not even with their family lives....
Poor people.
Why did he have to do that?
I wonder if I can get the full story a bit later.
Definitely have to ask the maid...
Did I already forget her name?!
SHOOT!
Em... em... em.. emily?
No no something close to that.
Em...em... emi..
This has to be enough to call her Emi... I swear names were never my strength at all.
Curse my bad memory for names!