The Duke's Imposter Sister

Chapter 21 – A Personality Change

Gris spent the night tossing and turning in bed that she woke up feeling sore and tired. Bellin, once again, came to knock on her door at sunrise. Gris granted her entrance, and Bellin at once started preparing her bath while she sat on her bed, staring blankly at her walls while running her fingers through her puppy’s coat, the little one still sleeping.

As soon as her bath was ready, she got on it with Bellin’s assistance. After, Bellin also helped dress her like all the other mornings that came before, ever since she arrived.

After their preparations, the ruckus had woken up the puppy, and it was now happily running around her room. Gris had moved to seat near her window as Bellin proceeded to fix her bed.

Thanks to cuddling in bed, she and her puppy got rather close over the night. The puppy finally found her and begun circling around the leather shoes she wore and played with her by wagging its tail between her ankles.

Bellin watched the two interestingly as she fluffed the pillows back to life and opened her mouth to speak.

“Did you come up with a name for the puppy last night?”Bellin asked Gris as she finally finished fixing the bed of Gris and was approaching the latter to comb her hair. As soon as Bellin reached Gris, she began combing her hair, untangling the knots.

“Oh, a name….”

Gris didn’t feel any different about how she didn’t want to name the creature, but she did think it should have a name for convenience. But what name? To her, it was a fluffy little creature, maybe a common name would suit it.

Gris thought for a while and chose a word perfectly portraying its fluffiness and vulnerability. This name came from the bottom of her heart and carried her desire of wanting the servants to also adore the puppy, for it was still a baby.

“Teer,” she said.

Bellin had an awestruck expression on her face when she heard the name come out of Gris’s lips. She then stared in space and scratched her head, causing a couple of strands of her ginger hair to fall lightly from the pins that held it in place.

“You have changed a lot, ma’am,” Bellin told Gris softly.

Gris was confused at Bellin’s unexpected comment.

What did she mean? Did she suspect something different about Yuliana? Gris firmly pressed on her chest with her palm, her heart was beating fast again. She cleared her throat, hoping her voice does not break as she asked.

“What do you mean, changed?”

Bellin suddenly stirred as if slapped back to her senses and dropped the brush in her hands, seeming quite perplexed.

“N…nothing ma’am. Please forgive my rude behavior.” Bellin exclaimed, her voice slightly quivering, and her eyes were filled with tears. Gris stared at Bellin in confusion, and this seemed to cause the latter more grief.

Bellin dropped her deadly pale face to the floor in an almost bow as if she had committed high treason.

Gris had once seen servants working under tyrannical royals put on a face like the one Bellin was wearing. Unsure of what had happened to cause such a reaction from her companion, Gris had begun to clear her throat to Bellin if she was alright, however before she could voice out her concern, Bellin opened her mouth hesitantly and begun speaking.

“The head of servants will be arriving soon, ma’am. Since your health recovered tremendously, Madam Paola put her in charge to officially introduce you to the mansion,” Bellin said with a shaky voice.

Just then, Laurel, who was the head of servants, knocked on the door and entered the room.

She was a lady in her mid-thirties, with brown eyes and hair. She had a distinctive, vibrant voice as well as sharp features.

“Good morning, ma’am. You look stunning as always,” Laurel said to her as she bowed at Gris in greeting.

Gris nodded her head towards Laurel acknowledging her presence after studying Bellin’s still troubled face. Reading the awkward stillness in the room and pegging it as her mistress’ morning absent-mindedness, Laurel placed the towel she brought with her and into the wardrobe before returning to talk to Gris once again.

“Today, I will take you around the mansion, and tomorrow, your tutor will be arriving to give your first lesson on liberal arts, etiquette, and doctrine – everything that you will need to know,” explained Laurel.

Gris felt anxious about this news. While Bellin started to clean the rest of her room. Laurel had told Gris she would wait for her to collect her thoughts so they could begin their day, mustering up her courage, Gris left the room with Laurel, still feeling quite uneasy.

The two proceeded to walk on the hallway that led to a new wing of the mansion, to which Gris had never been before. Glancing at the place up ahead, Gris squinted her eyes to get a clearer look.

Gris saw that there were two portraits hanging on the wall beside the flight of stairs that led to the lobby. As if sensing her unspoken question, Laurel turned and explained that the first portrait she was seeing was the image of the former head of the Byrenhags, Sir Valdemar Byrenhag, and the one next to it was Sir Vianut Byrenhag. Gris swallowed, her throat suddenly felt dry.

Gris glanced at each of the portraits carefully. The two men in the frames resembled each other strongly, she notes. Laurel continued to explain about the family’s history as they began to climb up the steps to the next floor.

“On the first floor of the annex is a room storing the plaster casts of each member of the Byrenhag household. Currently, the plaster cast next to Sir Vianut Byrenhag is empty, but shortly a plaster cast of yourself will be placed there too.”

When Gris imagined her plaster cast replacing Yuliana’s, she felt her breath leave her body, causing her to choke and making her feel suffocated as if caged into a tight space, like lifeless portraits.

“The second floor is used by Sir Byrenhag. The most inner room at the start of the hall is his own room and next to it is the storage,” Laurel continued as she placed her hand on the gold-painted handrail, she continued to support her weight on the rail until they arrived on the second floor.

The second floor was decorated in luxury, reflecting Vianut’s prestige. On the wall was a painting of an angel crafted by the family’s artist, and on the floor lay a carpet with gold embroidery.

Gris was busy studying the pattern of the embroidery when she noticed Laurel who was walking in front of her stopped. She seemed unable to enter the sacred territory of Sir Byrenhag. Instead, she gestured towards the other inner rooms.

“The storage is also used by Sir Byrenhag himself. He has a penchant for collecting things.”

With this, Gris determined that Vianut may be fond of things more than people.