"It's alright, Miss Sydnee. Duke Theodore originally planned to visit the broken palace today. Bringing you along is nothing."
Although she was skeptical of the idea, she did not want to let the duke down. So Sydnee nodded.
And the sun shone brightly in the east while a group of people inside the horse carriage slowly made their way towards the fallen palace.
She saw the broken palace at the distance and she did not expect it to be enormous when she stood right in front of the old and rusty palace gates. Although it was ruined, it did not hinder the majestic look of it.
Duke Theodore and his entourage had stepped inside the gates so she followed after the group. It took them a few minutes before they entered the broken palace.
"Say, Duke, the Lady Geneva will arrive the next day. Do you want me to arrange everything for Miss Sydnee?" asked the butler walking beside the duke.
Sydnee caught a glimpse of the duke's back, who was walking ahead of her, before averting her eyes to the walls of the palace. The wall's paint had wore away. Basically, there was nothing noteworthy to look around inside. But she did not know why her instinct tell her otherwise.
"No need. She will understand," the duke said.
The butler took a glance at Sydnee before averting his eyes. "Lady Geneva will be angry."
"She will." The duke shrugged his shoulder. "But there is nothing I can do. She should not trust that little vixen, but alas, Geneva can't fight the urge to believe that good actress."
"Duke..." The butler said, hesitant. "Miss Sydnee is walking behind."
"It's okay. She will not say anything. Besides I trust her."
Sydnee took another glimpse at the duke's back before lowering her gaze. He trust her? A bitter smile made its way to her lips.
The butler cleared his throat before he faced her. "Miss Sydnee," he called. "You might heard the rumors about the duke being dumb, but that is not true. Within the walls of the mansion, besides me and the duke, there is no one who know that the duke can talk." He stared at her longer than usual before he opened his mouth again. "Please don't let anyone know what you heard in this place."
She blinked and nodded. Then she lowered her gaze again. As what she deduced, the duke had hid the truth about his condition. She knew that it was not a good idea to spread rumors. Besides, she wanted to repay the favor he gave her.
"I understand. Don't worry, I won't say a thing," she whispered.
She saw in the corner of her eyes that the butler nodded before he ran after the duke who already walked further in front. Sydnee was silent as she walked after them.
The clock ticked by as they walked ahead, stairs after stairs and hallway after hallway, until they stopped in front of a huge door. The paint had wore away in time, but she could still see some remnants of golden paint on it.
The duke pushed open the door and it creaked. She grimaced as the sharp and loud sound echoed in the hallway. But it was as if the duke did not hear anything as he strode inside. Sydnee was left with no choice but to follow him.
It was an enormous room and there was no window, but only old walls rising until the ceiling. The room they entered was like a four corner room to store a treasure.
And surely, Sydnee's thought was right when the duke stopped in front of a wooden chest. It was not that big, just a palm size chest. And it was locked.
"Duke, you found it," the butler whispered under his breathe which Sydnee heard because of the stillness of the place.
Duke Theodore nodded and he looked at Sydnee. She blinked and unwittingly stepped back.
He chuckled when he noticed what she had done before he gestured her to come close to him. Sydnee gulped hard and stepped forward until she was standing face to face with the duke.
He smiled at her and reached for the necklace hanging around his neck. He then connect the pendant with the lock on the chest, and opened it. There was a click before he completely revealed what was inside the chest.
It was a small pendant shaped like an eagle. There was a long golden chain connected to it, and it was when Sydnee realized that the pendant is an emblem of the ancient monarch whom she had studied in school.
She blinked. "Mondragon," she whispered. She gasped in surprise.
Mondragon was the monarch who ruled the whole kingdom before the downfall of the clan. It was rumored that the crown princess fell in love with a common man and the king disagreed with their relationship, leading to a massacre of the man's whole clan. The princess and the man escaped from the kingdom and lived faraway. Due to this, the kingdom was in chaos and the enemies of the king took the opportunity to usurp the throne. And thus the downfall of the mighty Mondragon clan happened when the king was assassinated while sitting on his throne.
The emblem symbolized the clan of Mondragon and she was astonished to see it with her own eyes.
Duke Theodore watched her expression before he spoke something that baffled her. "This is the family heirloom of the Mondragon, and this is for you, Sydnee."
She raised her head to look at him, eyes wide in confusion. "F-For me?"
The duke nodded and he reached for the necklace. Without a word, he walked behind her to put the necklace around her neck. Then he walked right in front of her and smiled. "Your mother, Lady Geneva Mondragon, is my wife. So you can call me father."
There was a long pause before Sydnee stepped back in surprise. "W-What?"
He sighed and looked ahead. He seemed to think of something before he continued. "My great grandmother was the crown princess whom I talked about. And that is the family heirloom that she failed to obtain in her lifetime. Now that I came back to where the Mondragon once ruled, it's my life mission to get what is due to my clan." He looked at Sydnee. "That heirloom was supposedly for Catarina but I was wrong to trust her. Now, I am giving it to you."
"B-But..." She gasped as her mouth opened but no words came out. She stared at him in utter shock.
When he realized that she was at loss of word, he chuckled. A gentle smile curved on his lips. "It's okay. Geneva and I were not so lucky to have a child. Since you are her biological daughter, I might as well give it to you."
"S-She's my mother..." Sydnee blinked for a few times before she lowered her gaze.
It was absurd. Her biological mother was a noble whom she had met before. But Lady Geneva did not acknowledge her. And this Catarina, as what she had heard from the housekeepers, was the adopted daughter of Lady Geneva who lived with the couple for almost ten years. It was only at this time, when Catarina was already a young woman, that Lady Geneva let her wander outside to build connections with other nobles. It was also the reason why almost no one in the outside world knew of Catarina's existence.
But if she had lived with the duke and Lady Geneva for years, then what was the reason for the duke's hesitation to give the family heirloom to her? Why he claimed that he was wrong to trust Catarina?
Sydnee raised her head and stared intently at Duke Theodore who was giving instructions to the butler. There was something amiss with this current identity of her, specially when it was too good to be true.
The most important thing for her to know was the truth behind Lady Geneva and her father's relationship with each other. Since the day she learned to write and read, she never met Lady Geneva. Her father and foster mother never mentioned anything about the noble lady.
Except... her eyes narrowed. Yesterday.
When she came home to see her father's mutilated body and her foster mother reasoned that her father abused her and wanted to find... that woman.
If she was thinking the correct picture, the woman that her father wanted to look for was Lady Geneva.