The Duke’s Imposter Sister

She gently closed her eyes and slowly breathed the air in the room. She imagined that she returned to her mothers belly and reminisced the lullaby that she often heard when she was young. The tune in her memory naturally flowed out of her mouth, and she did not realize that she was now singing.

Birds sleep at night while hugging the seeds in the cradle,

And flowers bloom with sweet praise.

You will walk in paradise forever and rest there.

Aah Even if you dont hear my song,

You will forever be in my heart.

She softly whispered to herself in a gentle tone as if she were singing a lullaby to a baby. She silently walked towards the seat beside the window and furtively looked beside her.

But in the corner of her eyes she spotted that there was a dark shadow in the middle of the white statues that occupied the room. Gris then looked at the Princes statue which was seated in a square plaster cast. The shadow then stopped moving. Her Gris felt her heart start to beat fast.

The shadow moved closer and was now three steps away from her. The dark figure revealed a familiar face. It was Vianut and his face looked like he had just awakened from sleep. Gris took a step back.

Gris felt her cheeks warming at being caught looking at him, as if she had peeped at his private life. She guessed that he may have been woken from his slumber because of her singing the lullaby. At this, she felt her hands start to tremble.

Fear rose as she bowed her head down, unable to think of a way out of the mess she was certain she was stuck in.

YoYour Highness. She stuttered out as she felt Vianuts figure close in on her. She wanted to run but her feet remained glued to the ground.

While Gris was panicking, Vianut on his part merely stared at her and he slowly exhaled his breath in a sigh wondering to himself why the formers reaction was troubled, he was confused. Vianut then placed one of his hands on his neck to massage its stiff muscles, his veiny hands worked on the knots below his skin as he looked at his companion and lightly said.

I thought it was you.

He thought it was me? Was he expecting that I will come to this place? Or he thought it was me who sung the lullaby?She needed an explanation to understand what he was telling her.

Howrver it seemed that Duke Vianut did not feel the need to explain himself. He did not seem to care what have made her uncomfortable and instead proceeded to nonchalantly asked what he wanted.

Please sing again. That song you were singing, he asked as he stared into Gris eyes.

His deep blue eyes looked like it was imploring something from her. It seemed like he was begging her to tell him where she learned the lullaby of Benedict. His eyes seemed to urge her to sing the lullaby again, so he may listen to it once more.

She can sense that the lullaby meant something to him.

At once, Gris felt like she was sharing her childhood memories with this man. There was a part of her that wanted to ask how he knows the lullaby and talk about her hometown to him, talk about the life she lived in Grandia.

However, she cannot make him feel that she was uncomfortable with him, or make him suspect that she was so different from him. If she makes any mistake, he will discover her identity as the Princess of Grandia.

I am afraid I dont know what you are talking about

Gris replied coldly and began to scramble for the door.

It was the first time she felt that she was running for her life, her sweat that slid down her body and met with the cold wind as she ran sent chills to her spine. But her heart felt hot as if she was roasted. Her gasps were wearing her down, stinging her lungs and spreading pain inside her. She had a hunch that she would have a heart attack the more she strayed nearar him.

So she ran as far as she could, she was afraid to even look back.

***

Luckily, the day went by without any further mishap. Gris attended the classes for aristocrats and was immersed in her studies until evening. Then after her schedule, she proceeded to eat dinner with her grandmother and then retired to her chambers when it was time for her to sleep.

As she rested her head on her pillows she cant help but allow the events that happened earlier today to fill her mind.

Even though hours had passed, the meeting with Vianut repeatedly flooded her thoughts and she could not stop thinking about their encounter. She reckons that he was merely resting in that chamber, why was she so bothered by it, did she think it was odd for him to stay there?

She wondered why Vianut was interested in Benedicts lullaby. He after all had no relations with the Benedicts family.

When morning came, Bellin arrived in her room to wake her.

Irritated by Bellins voice, she barely managed to open her eyes as she was not able to sleep soundly that night. She was surprised to find out it was already dawn. Just like all morning that came before, she willed herself to wake up, get dressed, and played with Teer as she prepared for her daily routine.

While she was playing with Teer, a knock came from her doors.

Gris felt that there must be someone who was in front of her chambers. She asked who was there and a man gently replied to her.

Im Bram, the servant of Your Highness.

Gris told the voice that he could enter he chambers and Bellin walked towards the door to open it, as she did so, she froze in shock when the man entered.

A old gentleman came in and bowed his head, saying. Gris noticed that he looked rather kind.

Good morning, My Lady, Bram greeted her.