"Besides," she continued, her smile turning sly, "weren't you the one who started it? Keeping watch over me the whole night? That's far more scandalous."
She was acting like her past self but i could tell that a part of all her actions was just acting, just pretense. It was all a facade, a beautiful, brave pretense.
"You were awake ?" I asked.
"I wasn't. But I didn't need to be," she said, pouting. "Knowing a person's character is enough to predict their actions. I was... mostly sure you'd be here."
"Mostly? So it was just a guess."
"It was a calculated deduction! I was plenty of sure!" she said pouting.
Is that so ?
I almost smiled. Yes, This was the girl I remembered. I girl whom I had left.
"I know you have a lot to ask." She paused, her expression softening. "But before that..."
-Growl..
The silence of the room was shattered by a sound I was familiar with, while being on the battlefield. The source of the sound unmistakably was her belly.
Natasha froze, her face flushing a shade of red that almost matched her true hair color. "...can we have our breakfast first ? I am starving!"
"Alright" I said, standing up and stretching my cramped limbs.
*********
After Our breakfast, the two of us were sitting in my room.
There was no one else besides us in the room. Just me and her.
"Alright. Tell me," I said, my voice steady but firm. "I want to hear everything."
Perhaps, I am being cruel No, I knew I am. To ask a survivor to reconstruct the day her world burned is a form of psychological dissection.
But, I need to know the details from someone who was closely involved. And besides, even if it's cruel there is something I want to check and making her tell me the story is perhaps the only way.
"Tell me the magic word first," she countered, her voice trying for a playful lilt that didn't quite reach her hollowed eyes. "If you really want to know."
"If you're talking about 'Please' then, no. You know this too. I never say please to anyone. except for my parents."
"Hmm. You indeed never did. Not even to the teachers. But why though ? What's wrong with saying 'please' ?" she mused, leaning back into the pillows. "It's polite, you know. You never told me the reason. Is it a matter of pride ?"
"...Yes, kind of. 'Please' is a word used to request something. Request is done by a person of lower standing to a person of higher standing." I took a breath, leaning forward.
"I am a Grand Duke. None except for the Royal family and my Parents are above me. So, naturally I don't need to use your magic word and neither do I want to."
"...I see" She didn't. She stared at me with a dazed expression, as if I were speaking a dead language.
Not surprising, though. I am sure that most people will find this line of thought very stupid.
For them, 'Please' is just a word that they can use anytime anywhere.
But not for me. For me, it's a matter of my own Standing.
My father once taught me that Words are precious and powerful. And as such, They should be used wisely. They are binding. They are powerful.
That's also one of the reasons that I hate lying or making false promises. I do not want to waste my precious words on empty lies.
"Alright, Now tell me."
I pressed her to tell me her story And she complied, She began to speak, her voice flat, as if she were reading a ledger of lost goods. And it was pretty much what I have gathered.
More than a year ago, Mike Galos—that parasitic blight, proposed a marriage with the Carvy house, since both of the houses were in the business sector.
Naturally, Naty's parents declined it for Obvious reasons. Being the narrow minded, under handed scum, that Mike was, he used spies to steal Carvy's new product design and accused the Carvy family of plagiarism.
But even then, things should not have escalated so far that it turned into a territory war.
Galos must've used some connections in Royal Palace, to pull strings to make things escalate that far in such a short amount of time, without even a proper trial.
"From what is known to me, they launched a full-scale assault immediately," She continued. "They didn't even wait for a siege."
No wonder! It matches my reports.
According to the war reports, The Galos family used a lot of resources and launched a full on attack, instead of a planned one.
At first, I thought that he was an Idiot without any knowledge of war.
But, if he was afraid that everything would come to light soon, if it took too much time to finish the war, He would be the one to suffer Backlash by Law for perjury.
It made sense. If he Eliminated the curvy before that, he would not have to be punished, as long as he plays his cards right.
"...when we got the news that The Galon forces were on their way to our mansion, Father made the choice to stay behind and mother also chose to stay and support him." Her voice wavered, but her eyes remained dry. "I also wanted to do the same but they forced me to take the escape tunnel and leave. My escort knights were... Killed, cut down brutally during the pursuit but somehow... Somehow I alone... I alone survived."
I watched her closely. Although there was sadness in her voice, Even though It seemed as if she will cry at any second now, But There was no trace of tears.
The Naty that I once knew would cry rivers over the tragic ending of a romance Novel characters and yet, here she is, sitting here, describing the death of her parents without a single tear.
How much has she gone through in these past months... To have changed this much, this quickly, to hold her tears back this tightly, even in front of me.
Just How much? How much had she endured in these past months to have cauterized her own heart so thoroughly?
Dammit!
"I.. I regret it." She whispered. Tears threatened to fall out of her eyes.
"What ?" I responded in stupor.
"I-hic!.. I regret not-hic! Accepting the proposal." Finally, a sob broke through the armor. Her shoulders shook, and the first tear traced a path through the dust on her cheek.
"If I-hic! I had accepted it, If I had just said yes... if I had just let him have me... nothing would have happened! My father would be alive! My mother would—"
"...I seriously doubt that." I interrupted, my voice stoic cold.
"What ?" She looked up at me, her face a mask of grief and confusion.
Instead of answering her with words, I stood up and walked to my desk. I pulled a hidden latch in the drawer and brought out some documents from the drawer.
"You Might think Mike Galos wanted a wife but," I said, dropping the papers onto the bed beside her. "You're wrong. He wanted much more than just that."
"Even your acceptance might not have guaranteed a present and future you dream of."