Seraphina POV
'Dearest Father,
How have you been? Is everything in order back home? I've safely arrived at the Castille manor and even had dinner with Lord Castille. The accommodation has been more than sufficient and I've been treated well. Nothing of note has happened yet, but I'm sure I'll spend my summer break well here so you don't need to worry about me. Unfortunately, I won't make it back home this summer, but I'll be sure to return during the next break.
Yours truly,
Seraphina Lazarius'
I finish my brief letter and put down my pen. Then I let out a sigh and lean back in my chair.
"Haah."
In the end I decided to leave out the part about Lord Cedric's trade deal. Even if Lucy said she doesn't mind, it just doesn't feel right to me. Though we're still supposed to spend about a week here and then go back to the academy, so I hope things won't be too awkward from now on.
I glance out the window at the pure darkness of night and reconsider my attitude.
No. If things get awkward again, I won't hesitate this time. I'll just take Lucy's side and show that old man that her daughter can't be pushed around so easily anymore!
…But Lucy probably wouldn't like that either. She seemed like she really wanted to get along with her father so I might still just make things worse.
Ugh, whatever. I'll figure it out tomorrow.
I turn off the lamp at the desk, plunging my room into darkness as well and get ready for bed.
Knock…knock.
"...?"
However, just as I get on my bed, I hear two very weak knocks on my door. Good thing I was still awake, there's no way I'd have ever noticed it if I was already asleep.
I get up slightly confused and make my way to the door.
"Yes? What is it…"
I start speaking before opening the door, but my voice catches in my throat as I notice that all too familiar figure, in quite a sorry state. Her golden hair is disheveled and covering parts of her face, but that distinct redness near the edge of her eyes is still noticeable. She's also slightly shaking, and when I reach out to support her, I instantly feel how cold her body is.
"...! Lucy? What happened? Are you alright?"
"Ah, no. I'm okay. I… I just came here to let you know that I'm heading back to the academy early is all…"
"The academy…? It's still the middle of the night. No, nevermind that. Come in first."
"But…"
Before she can say anything more I pull her into my room and sit her down on my bed. I quickly grab a nearby blanket and wrap it around her.
This whole time she has looked quite out of it, her eyes missing the usual glint they have. Something must have shaken her up badly. Right, something… it must have been that hateful old man after all!
No, this isn't the time for that. I should take care of Lucy first.
I push aside my rising anger towards that bastard and refocus on Lucy.
"I… don't want to bother you. I can just make my way back on my own. I already troubled you so much…"
"And how are you even planning to get back there, by walking? Give me a break. Just stay here and I'll have my carriage ready. And you aren't the one who decides what troubles me or not."
"But-"
"No buts. It's either that or I'm locking you in my room with me. So, which one will it be?"
"..."
"Just wait for a little bit and we'll go back, okay?"
Now that she can't talk back anymore I pick up a certain bell from my desk and ring it. It gives off a soft clink and a minute later one of my family's servants who came along with us arrives at the door.
"Milady, have you called?"
This little bell is an artifact connected to a similar one that specific servants of my family have. It basically allows me to call them easily. I don't usually use it, especially not in the middle of the night, but these are special circumstances.
"Hm, get our carriage ready for a journey back to the academy. Be quick about it, it's fine if we leave some things behind."
"...I understand. What should we tell the Castille family servants if they ask?"
I glance at Lucy's small frame on my bed and answer:
"Haah, just say that something came up and Lucy is coming with me back to the academy."
"Of course, milady. We'll get everything ready at once."
I close the door and go back to Lucy.
"I can-"
"You can stay quiet and return with me. I came here with you so if you're going back, I'll be next to you on the way back as well."
I quickly put on some extra clothes and help Lucy put some on as well, just in time for our carriage to get ready.
"The academy is quite far away, milady. You can sleep on the way, I'll try to keep the carriage steady."
"I'm okay, but thank you."
I exchange a few words with the servant at the front of the carriage and then sit back down next to Lucy.
She usually isn't very talkative to begin with, but ever since she approached me earlier, she seems even more withdrawn. Even now, she just curled up at the very side of the carriage.
"It will still take a long time. Sleep a little bit, okay? Come here."
When she doesn't react to my words, I reach out and pull her towards me instead. Her body barely gives any resistance, either from being too tired or just allowing me to do as I please.
So I carefully lower her head onto my lap, letting her lie down on the carriage seat. Although it's probably not as good as a bed, it should be okay for now.
"Does it feel okay?"
"...hm."
She answers weakly, then turns towards my stomach, hiding her face as she curls up again.
"..."
I let out a sigh and then gently pat her head, smoothing out her slightly messy hair and trying to help calm her down.
Honestly, I do find it absurd just how many people seem to dislike Lucy for no reason. Students and even teachers at the academy, random maids at her family mansion, and even her own father. No matter what people say, she's still a duke's daughter. A position that would normally have others scrambling to get into her good graces, flattering her at every opportunity just for a sliver of her attention
I don't really like being treated that way myself, but I know all too well what it's like to be a duke's daughter. So even if she has some negative rumors floating around, others should still be jumping at the chance to gain her favor.
So what makes Lucy so special, or maybe unlucky, that instead everyone treats her so poorly? At this point, it's starting to feel really weird.
…Whatever, there's no point in wondering about that currently. I should help her recover for now, at least almost the entire summer break is still ahead of us, so school won't be a problem.
"...sorry… I didn't want to…"
While I'm gathering my thoughts, I feel Lucy's grip on my clothes tighten slightly, and she begins to mutter something, probably having a nightmare.
"It's okay, I'm here."
I gently pat her head again, and slowly feel her relax again.
Actually, maybe I should be a little more ruthless with them after all. I already have a pretty good case against Mister Roderic that Arthur and I put together, so with some extra pressure, I'm pretty confident he could lose his job at the academy, at the very least.
I also found those three girls that bullied Lucy before. They already had a history of bullying others, so with just a few extra words from me, it wasn't difficult to deal with them and they have already been expelled from the academy.
Arthur and Hugh… since both of them are actively helping Lucy with various matters, I can reluctantly let them off for now, though I won't let them forget their wrongdoings either.
That basically just leaves Lucy's father, Cedric Castille. He is a tougher opponent, since his position is higher than mine, but that doesn't mean I can't make his life much more difficult. I usually don't go to my father with things like this, but if it means that I can make that old bastard have a harder time doing anything, then I'm willing to do so. I can probably get Arthur on board with it too. Maybe that idiot as well. With all of us combined, we should be able to teach him not to mistreat his daughter again.
That should be enough for now. But they can just wait until I build up even more influence. I won't forget that most nobles either turned a blind eye to her or even joined in on making her life harder.
Just you wait…
I reaffirm my convictions as the carriage softly rattles on, making our way back towards the academy.
The next few days pass by rather uneventfully and Lucy remains unusually quiet and withdrawn. I try to reach out to her, but I don't really know what to say, so usually we just spend time together in silence.
Just as I'm at my wit's end about what to do, she suddenly invites me to the clearing in the restricted area. Since it's still the summer break, there's barely any students left at the academy so even as we walk through the school campus, everything is eerily silent. Needless to say Lucy is still just quietly leading me, so I can't help but feel a little awkward.
But we soon arrive at our destination. However Lucy just goes up to one of her flowers. It's a small white lily that doesn't look quite healthy and because of that it kind of stands out among all the other vibrant plants. She carefully digs it out and places it in a pot without saying anything.
Then she stands up and looks at me properly, her tired eyes meeting mine.
"Hina… I'm sorry."
"Huh? Sorry for what?"
"You've been treating me so nicely all this time… I can't keep going like this anymore."
"What are you talking about Lucy?"
I really don't like her defeated tone and I'm starting to have a bad feeling about this, but she just continues on:
"This little plant… It was one of the first flowers I managed to grow with my abilities, but for some reason it's always been sickly and had a hard time growing no matter what I did. I even tried planting it out here, hoping it would like the actual ground better, but as you can see, it hasn't adapted well here either. I know it's just a random flower and I shouldn't care much, but I grew attached to it after all this time. So I'm giving it to you. Maybe it will like being in your care more than mine."
She hands me the pot and that uneasy feeling grows even stronger.
"I can try my best, but why are you giving it to me? It… kind of feels like you're saying goodbye…"
"...I've been thinking a lot these past few days. I don't know how certain things will come to light in the near future, but I thought you deserve to know the truth in advance and from me. There's something I've been hiding from you… hiding from everyone."
I really don't like that she didn't answer my question, but her following words are even more alarming. I feel this tightness in my chest as I keep listening to her.
"I'm not Lucy Castille. I'm just some random girl who took her place. My real name is Lily. I'm sorry for lying to you all this time…"