Unusual interest

After the incident that happened years ago, Duchess Elizabeth had always noticed the sadness in her son's eyes. The distance he gave her and the forced love he showed her. It was a day that started off as a celebrative one and ended as a day of mourning and remembrance. She was so naive and reckless then that she didn't care about her son's happiness.

Victoria cleared her throat when she saw that the lady was distracted upon mentioning the Duke. Blue eyes gazed at her in admiration before the woman smiled. "Julius will show you around, I'm sorry," she said and quickly looked away. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

Turning to one of the guards who were stationed at the corridors, the Duchess commanded, "take the lady to Julius and see to it that she's comfortable."

"Yes, Your Grace." The guard answered and turned to Victoria.

"Milady, please come with me."

Victoria took one last look at the woman who was now staring at the empty space the guard stood earlier. She nodded and followed the guard away from there.

When both of them left, the Duchess sighed as the smile on her lips faltered, replaced by a glare. With stiff shoulders and furrowed eyebrows, she walked away from there.

***

Victoria couldn't stop admiring the beautiful corridors with marble floors. The walls were painted with dark grey paint. The curtains were drawn and tied, allowing air to come in through the opened window. Small vases of flowers were placed on each windowpane while small silver chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Few guards were stationed on this part of the palace and soon, the clatter of metals and voices reached her ears and her nose took in the delicious scent of banana bread.

As they turned in another corridor, the voices became louder. This part of the corridor had no windows and were lit up with burning oil lamps. About five guards were stationed here and this gave Victoria the impression that this place was hardly visited by any high rank socials.

One of the doors opened and a young maidservant stepped out with a tray of milk and biscuit. Her eyes squinted when it fell on Victoria but the former was too busy admiring the huge busy kitchen as different aromas of food wafted into her nose. Noticing the guard standing by the kitchen door, Julius made his way there. "Am I needed?" He asked the guard.

"Of course not. The Duchess asked that I bring this young lady to you. That she should be kept comfortable." The guard replied and was about to leave when he heard Julius reply.

"She's the Duke's responsibility. Not the Duchess. Is that clear?"

Victoria watched in silence as the guard bowed to the governor before walking away. She blinked several times as the Governor kept looking at her with an unreadable expression. The middle aged man stepped out of the kitchen before shutting the door. "Currently, all servant positions in the palace are occupied by servants–" but he was interrupted.

"Does that mean I can go back home?" Victoria asked with hope in her eyes even when she knew deep in her heart that there was none for now.

"I'm not finished," Julius snapped with a glare. Commoners were trouble in the palace and for some reasons, he didn't like this one his master had brought. With a stern gaze, he continued, "except one."

This time, Victoria didn't say anything. She didn't want to get on the bad side of the Governor who was so uptight and dedicated to his job. "Being the Duke's personal maidservant," he said without fretting. Gather your things, I'll show you to your room."

She watched him start walking away and immediately fell into step with him. "You're saying that I should serve the Duke personally?"

"That was exactly what I said," Julius replied with a stoic expression as he marched towards the Duke's quarter. "Where are your belongings?" He asked while coming to a halt.

Victoria's face immediately turned red in embarrassment. She was dragged away from her home as if she was a criminal. The thought was that she would come to serve her punishment then leave but the Duke seems to have other things in mind. "I came empty handed." She replied sheepishly with her eyes on the ground.

Julius raised an eyebrow in question. "Is that so?" He asked and began walking.

"Yes. What about my father? He's alone and old. He needs me," Victoria lamented.

"Tell that to the Duke," he retorted and finally got to a staircase leading to the first floor. "Now, the Duke is very strict about his quarters and privacy. Don't ever draw the curtains along the corridors no matter what. It's not an order, it's a command." When the girl was about to speak, Julius beat her to it. "There's no room for arguments."

Victoria nodded and followed the man. Bypassing the dark corridors until they got to a door. The Governor brought out a bunch of keys and started searching for one. When he found it, he pushed it into the keyhole and turned it. The lock clicked and he pushed the door open. "This will be your room for the meantime. Stay here, I'll be back." Then he stepped out, leaving her there.

Her mouth was left hanging when she further stepped into the room. It was nothing like the room she had grown up in. The wall was painted maroon. The rich brown wooden floor gleamed as the faint oil lamp glowed inside the room. The ceiling held a single chandelier which wasn't that far if she climbed a chair. Wooden furniture was placed in good manners across the room. Her eyes then fell on the bed which was at the far end of the room. Victoria hurriedly appeared near the bed, running her fingers through the smooth satin sheet and for some time, she forgot why she was here. One door which supposedly led to the shower room and a small closet. She couldn't believe this was hers and it's spacious.

Behind her was the dressing table and mirror. Beside it, a drawer and a small shelf was placed.

*Knock knock*

Julius knocked gently against the Duke's study door.

"Come in," Hareton called from the inside and the Governor quickly marched inside. The Duke was with Balor as expected due to the current happenings in the kingdom.

"What is it, Julius?" Hareton asked while staring at the atlas on his desk.

Julius bowed. "Lady Victoria came with nothing of hers. The room at the far end of the corridor has been given to her." He said, picking his words carefully.

The Duke raised his head with a small smile before standing up from the plush couch he was sitting on. "Show me to her room," he replied and Julius quietly led the Duke away from his study.

Balor on the other hand wasn't happy about the Duke's recklessness on the matters that concerned the kingdom. What he didn't understand was why the Duke was so happy to be in possession of the girl. He quietly gritted his teeth and waited.

When they entered the room, silence reigned. Also, Victoria wasn't standing where Julius had left her. Hareton turned to look at his Governor with squinted eyes. "Where is she, Julius?" He glared.

"I–I left her inside before coming to you." Julius wondered where the lady had gone within a few minutes of his absence.

Suddenly, the candles and lamps in the room mysteriously lit up as if a whirlwind of fire enveloped them.

Meanwhile, on the bed was Victoria, who was lying comfortably without a care in the world. Julius internally released the breath he didn't know he had been holding.

Hareton made his way towards the bed and stared at the peaceful sleeping girl. "What position was she given in the servant quarter?" He asked as his finger came to pick the loose strands of her hair off her face.

"Your personal maidservant, Your Grace. You haven't had one for quite some time and the other positions were already filled up," Julius quickly replied with valid reasons.

"Good," Hareton remarked before standing up to take a look around the room.

"Your mother was around the girl today." The Governor added as he inclined his head when the ferocious glare of the Duke hit him.

"Keep your eyes on her and make sure her path never crosses Victoria's." Hareton ordered with a hardened expression.

"It seems my mother always has interest in anyone or anything that I bring to this palace. Send words to the mansion in the south, let them know my mother would be coming soon. I hate pests."

"As you wish, Your Grace." Julius was about to walk away when he remembered something.

"Sire, Balor has been acting strange." He said with a hint of skepticism.

Hareton made his way towards the door. "Make sure a guard is assigned to her. As for Balor, he's worried about Everia. They killed his parents." The Duke then walked away from there with lots of things going through his mind.

On the other hand, the Governor was wondering why a guard should be assigned to a servant? Keeping his thoughts to himself, he shut the door and walked away from there.