The Crazy Daughter of the Duke's Family - Book One: Pandora

Chapter 14: Sentiments of the Lost

"There's a small cut and bruise on the side of her head where she must have hit a window, but otherwise she's fine."

"Any sutures?"

"The cut wasn't long enough or deep enough to warrant anything like that. There is nothing to worry about, my lady. All she needs now is a few hours of sleep."

The Doctor thought it would be better not to take her with them to the Lodden Empire, but as it was, it didn't look like they were going to leave her with them anyway, so he kept that to himself. She would be fine if she slept for the duration of their stay, which was going to be extended due to the repair work on the carriage.

With a sigh of relief, Rowena nodded to the doctor before her and dismissed him. "Norina, stay with her for a bit, I need some time to myself."

Norina, who had been holding Ava's hand for a while now, nodded in understanding. She didn't want to let her lady go alone, but she knew by now that sometimes she had to let her go.

Especially now, when her mistress hadn't traveled for so long. It hurt her to see her lady so confused and anxious. Who would have expected something like this to happen?

In reality, Rowena had expected something like this to happen. Seriously, it was basically an obligatory thing to happen in such novels, right?

She hated to think about it that way, because this wasn't just a book anymore - no, it never was. But maybe the reason why all the stories she read had such a scene was because the cliché was somehow rooted in truth? It made sense, but it still seemed unreal.

For someone like her, who was used to being ambushed on missions in less than optimal territorial conditions, it shouldn't sound stupid at all. Why should it be any less clichéd just because it hadn't happened to a noble on a journey when it was Celia's world?

With another sigh, this time a heavy one, she walked down the hallway of this unfamiliar mansion. They had barely crossed the bridge when the haphazardly thrown together axle finally gave way.

But it wasn't that bad, because they had sent a guard with a letter in advance, so he was waiting on the other side with some servants of the Nerena Marquisate and a spare carriage. The Marquis wasn't in good health anymore, so they were assisted by the overseer who handled most of the business in the Territory.

Her luggage was taken to the room where she was staying, as they knew better than to leave the things of the " infamously stubborn young lady" in any old room without supervision. For the time being, until the carriage could be restocked, everything towered a few feet away from her as she entered the room.

It was large, clean, very simple but elegant in its decoration, but there was one thing that caught her eye. An old picture on the wall, a tall one, of a beautiful young lady, maybe eighteen or seventeen, just like Rowena. She looked just like her, too.

But it wasn't Rowena, she knew, not only because the girl with the same pearly eyes and lavender hair was smiling warmly in the painting, but because she wasn't shown alone in it.

Behind her stood a man, perhaps in his late forties, with a stern expression and a hand on the back of the chair she was sitting in. On the chair next to the young woman was an older woman with dark brown hair and beautiful green eyes, about the same age as the man, a few years younger at most.

Although neither of them shared her unique eyes and hair color, they were unmistakably her parents. So this was definitely Isidora, Rowena's mother, along with Rowena's grandparents, the Marquis and his late wife.

Rowena wasn't aware of the fact that the late Marchioness had looked like this, though she was aware that the characteristics had skipped a generation until they had reappeared in Isidora and Rowena.