Reborn as the Duke's Daughter

05 Changes

"Have you seen her? Have you?" one of the maids whispers urgently to their co-worker.

"I did! I can't believe my eyes!"

"I know! Can you imagine?! I never would have thought that child is capable of leaving her room." The maid's eyes are wide as she replaces the wilted flowers on the vase with fresh ones. 

"Yes. Have you noticed how she's interacting with the Masters and Young Master now?"

"Hmm, I did," she arranges the flowers and looked out the window.

Outside the maids can see their Young Mistress is sitting on a bench under a tree, her legs swinging idly as she watches her eldest brother practice his swordsmanship.

For the first time since the maids worked in the Opponia estate in the Cursed Island, they finally saw their Young Mistress' smile.

At first, they all thought she's a heartless child for taking her family members for granted like that. She would wave away their acts of love and affection, snub their gifts, and ignore them completely.

All of the servants are grateful and thankful for the Opponia household. Despite living and working on the Cursed Island, which is the only disadvantage if one is working for them, the work and the pay is every servants' dream.

That was why they all feel a strong dislike towards the Young Mistress. All for being such an ungrateful child towards the Master and Young Masters that they respect.

For the senior staff of the Opponia household, they all know how the Master and Young Masters toiled day and night as they try to take care of the baby girl the Mistress left behind.

The Young MIstress was a beautiful baby and they thought she's an angel. However, as she grew up, they noticed that she's not as angelic as she seemed to be.

She mostly keeps to herself, she doesn't talk much, and she treats everyone around her as invisible. For her to interact with others, one must draw her attention and keep it by any means necessary.

The Head Maid, Caroline, had the unfortunate job of taking care of the troublesome Young Mistress. However, after the Young Mistress slipped and fell from the stairs, hitting her head on the floor, she suddenly changed.

And to the delight of the staff of the Opponia estate, it was a change for the better.

She suddenly began to speak a lot more, she went out of her room more often, and she became more attentive to her family.

"I'm...really happy for the Master and the Young Masters," the maid sighs.

"Yeah, me too. If a bump on the head was all it took for the Young Mistress to see sense, I would have done it myself sooner," the other laughs.

A woman's voice suddenly intrudes.

"I know that what you said about the Young Miss stemmed from your love and loyalty to the Master and Young Master but..." Caroline's green eyes gleam dangerously behind her glasses. "Keep in mind that she's still a part of the Opponia household that you love so much."

"Eeek, I-I'm so very sorry, Head Maid!" the maids squeak in fear.

"We'll talk about your appropriate punishments in my office, shall we?" Caroline tells them with a super sweet that everyone knows spelled trouble for those who received it.

***

I glance at the window on the second floor. It's the one in the hallway that leads to Dad's office. Caroline can be seen reprimanding two maids from there and I know why.

It's more or less about my attitude towards my family for the past eight years.

I sigh.

"Raffy? What's wrong?" Wolfsbane asks as he sits beside me on the bench.

"They're talking again."

Was my absent reply since my attention is still on the window. Caroline is already leading the two maids away, presumably to scold them in her office.

This isn't the first incident that happened when other staff members of the Opponia household are gossiping about me and how I changed.

Yesterday, while I was accompanying Brother Nerium in his lab for the first time, one of the maids uttered a shocked exclamation when they saw me.

It would have been fine but then they suddenly began whispering, a little too loudly at that, amongst themselves.

Even though I didn't mind it one bit, I can't blame them since I've been a frigid b***h for eight years, Nerium minded. He minded a lot.

He went ballistic, screaming and shouting for what an ungrateful staff they've been for badmouthing me to my face. I was shocked, of course.

Nerium, my sunny, outgoing mischievous prankster of a brother got mad!

This is the first time I've seen him mad. He never got mad at me even though I treated the potions he worked so hard to mix--just for my sake--like garbage.

Seeing and realizing that he CAN get mad...it's actually pretty scary.

He then fired them all on the spot that I had to ask Alyosha to give them back their jobs. Unfortunately, it'll only make my second brother upset.

So instead, I asked for Alyosha to switch some staff from the estate in Aster or in Opponia for the ones whom Nerium fired.

One of my reasons is so we can still provide jobs for those who got laid off(I know the feeling of being fired due to unreasonable circumstances and I'll take this as my fault). Another reason is so we won't worry about the new staff's loyalty since they're working on the Aster or Opponia estate, they're still considered people of Opponia Household.

Alyosha then praised me for being so clever and pats my head. It was then I discovered that I like being praised and patted on the head.

It makes me feel...appreciated. The one thing that I never received in my past life.

With a small smile, I turn to glance at my eldest brother and flinch when I see him glare at the windows. I can practically see his aura go dark and murderous.

"Do you want me to do something about those gossip mongers?" He clicks open the Hellfire Sword he's been using to practice, making my hair stand on edge.

If I don't do something about this, it seems that the peaceful Opponia household might possibly become a place of murder and death.

Did I say that Brother Nerium is scary when he gets mad?

Well, Brother Wolfsbane is way scarier. He may not be yelling and screaming the house down like Nerium, but he seems more amenable to...deal with his enemies silently and permanently.

I quickly place my hand on his shoulder and give him a pat, hoping it'll help calm him down. Though, I'm not sure if a simple pat on the shoulder can cut it.

To my surprise, Wolfsbane takes a deep breath and sheathes the Hellfire Sword.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted that way in front of you, Raffy. Forgive me. I just can't stand hearing such talks about you."

"It's fine, brother. I don't really care about such talks from strangers. All I care about are talks coming from you, Brother Nerium, and Daddy."

Wolfsbane glances at me and smiles.

He's all sweaty and I can feel the heat emanating from him beside me. Well, it's normal especially when one is wielding the Hellfire Sword. 

Seriously though, why is my brother still so fair even after hours of practice under the sun? Not only that but he's also practicing using a sword that's covered in flames!

Meanwhile, only minutes under the sun while walking around the garden, I get a tan. And if I forget to wear sunblock, I get sunburn.

But Brother Wolfsbane, on the other hand...

Is it because he's one of the male leads in the game and he has to maintain his good looks? And I'm only a mere mention in the dialogue and who cares about me?

Tsk, the world is so unfair. I wrinkle my nose at that.

He notices and chuckles. "My apologies. I'm probably disgusting from the sweat, huh? Maybe I should just go and get a shower. I can't have my little sister dislike me cause I'm such a slob of a brother."

And since why did he even think that? Wait a minute, is that how they think whenever I snub them in the past?

Tsking under my breath, I fish out my handkerchief from my dress pocket and shift my body towards him. I grab his arm to hold him still.

"Eh? R-Raffy, what are you--"

His sentence got cut off when he feels a handkerchief land on his cheek. And that's when I start dabbing his sweat from him.

"If you let the sweat dry on your skin, brother, you might get sick. Please, don't get sick."

Wolfsbane stares at me for a moment before he closes his eyes, covering my hands in his.

"I won't. I'll take care of my health but in return, you take care of your health as well."

"He's right! And here's your medication for the day, little sister!" Nerium announces happily while carrying a tray with tea and cookies.

Wolfsbane's expression turns thunderous as he watches Nerium approach.

"My time with Raffy isn't over yet. How dare you butt in."

"Ah, ah, ah. You might need to get your eyes checked brother. It's already noon."

I blink and check the magic sundial nearby. It says there's still five minutes until noon though?

Holding the tray with one hand, he makes a finger gun and 'shoots' the magic sundial. The magical tool immediately glows and moves, showing that it is indeed noon.

"Huh..." I mutter absentmindedly. "It seems that even we have broken magic tools."

Nerium narrows his eyes at Wolfsbane. "Oh, yeah, you're right, little sister. It's definitely broken and not being tampered with to cheat their alone time with you at all."

"I'll have someone check it and maybe have the tool replace it," Wolfsbane clears her throat.

Well, it makes sense. Even though we're rich and 'powerful', the people here are still human. They're bound to make minor mistakes like overlook stuff like this.

My second brother shamelessly takes his place beside me and gestures for me to take the tea.

I make a face at that yet I still reach for it. Steeling myself and my stomach, I take one careful sip.

The taste immediately floods my mouth and my eyes grow wide as I look up to my brothers. Both of them are staring at me fondly with gentle smiles on their faces.

"How is it?" Nerium grins.

"It's...delicious!" I can't help but exclaim and drink more, making Wolfsbane laugh.

The taste is nothing like I ever tasted before even from my past life. One moment it tastes like strawberry, then it changes to banana, and then another fruit.

Magic here is really cool!

"RAFFY!!!!!"

"MASTER, NO! YOU STILL HAVE PLENTY OF WORK TO FINISH!"

The sound of glass breaking along with Alyosha's angry scolding can be heard. My brothers and I look up just in time to see Dad land flawlessly on the ground after jumping from the second floor of our estate.

Alyosha roars in frustration before he rushes down the house, probably to chase after Dad.

But it seems that Dad doesn't care because as soon as he sees me, he beams and begins to run towards us.

"Raffy!!! My little girl!"

However, before he can reach me, Wolfsbane and Nerium block his path. Then the three of them engaged in an argument regarding who'll spend time with me.

Leaning back against the tree, I calmly sip my delicious tea mixed with Brother Nerium's medicine.

I watch my family bicker against each other, savoring my new peaceful(well, not really peaceful) and happy everyday life.

But...are these changes I'm making...okay?