FIVE YEARS LATER
A five-year-old little lady got lost in the town market. She has black wavy hair and crimson eyes. She was looking around trying to find her mother with teary eyes.
"Mommy? Mommy? " she called out in a cracking voice.
She bumped into a man who was wearing his casual attire. However, you could tell he is a knight because he has a sword on his side. The crest on the handle of his sword defined the family he was serving.
"Oopsie!" catching the little lady before she could fall. "Are you okay, little lady?"
The little girl lifts her gaze and looks at the man who is now bending to level her eye. She observed the man before her.
"Are you a knight, sir?" she asked.
"Yes, how did you know?"
The little girl points at the sword beside him.
"Ah, I see. Are you lost?"
She slowly nodded.
"Who is with you?"
"My mother."
"Should we go look together?"
"Okay," she nodded.
The man stares for a bit at the little girl and feels something nostalgic or familiar from her.
"Sir?" The little girl called out.
"How did you know I'm a knight?" I mean, not everyone who has a sword is a knight."
"Because, mommy told me that when the handle of the sword has a crest, it means the owner is a knight."
The man was surprised because of the child's knowledge at her young age.
"I see. But it could not be a noble family crest. It can be a crest of a guild."
The man realized the term he used. "What am I saying to a child?"
"I know what a guild is. Mommy told me. It is a group of men who work for someone."
"Haha… who is this child's mother? teaching her these things," the man commented in his mind.
"Umm… should we look for your mother? "
The little girl raised both her arms in the air.
"Yes?" said the man, who did not understand at first her gesture.
The little girl closes and opens her hands. "Lift me up, sir. So, I can help to look for my mother."
The man chuckled at how adorable the little lady appeared. He lifts her up and sits her on his right arm.
"Okay now. How does your mother look?" He started walking towards and looking around.
"I look a lot like her, but she said I inherited the color of my eyes from my father."
The man once again glances at the little lady. "Are you from here, little lady? You look familiar. "
"I'm not from here, sir."
"Then, how about your family? I can just send you home."
"I don't have a family name," the little lady answered casually.
"What?" the man stopped by surprise.
"Sir, I don't even know who my father is. So, of course, I don't have a family name." Saying as it is an obvious thing.
"Is this normal for a child to be so complacent in these things?"
"Did you not ask your mother about him?"
"I did."
"And?"
"Usually in this situation. The mother will tell them their father is dead or went to a faraway place."
"She said he is still alive, fortunately."
"Of course, she will say he is dead… wait, what? He is still alive?" "And what's with fortunately?" the knight continued in his thought.
"Are you not listening, sir?" The little lady pouts.
"Apology, I'm listening.If your father is still alive. How come you did not know him?"
"Did her father abandon them?"
"He did not abandon us." The little lady casually answered.
The man snapped towards her.
"I did not read your mind. Just that's how others usually asked whenever they asked about my father."
"I…. I see." The man suddenly felt guilt. "Just how did this child grow up in such an environment? "
They walk around the town market but can't find the woman they're looking for. The sun is already setting.
"It seems that we missed your mother. If we did not find her today, would you mind if I brought you to the estate of the family I am serving?" the knight says to the small lady he is carrying.
"Where is that?"
"It is the estate of Duke Ledroux."
"Why would you bring me there?"
"Umm… because there, you can eat yummy food and have a room to stay for the night. We will continue looking for your mother tomorrow, okay?"
The child did not respond immediately. "Will I be safe there?"
The knight is surprised by the child's question. "Ah, yes. You are safe there. I assure you."
"Okay then," she nodded slowly.
The knight stares at the child for a moment, sensing that she is missing something. The knight brought the child into the estate. They enter the entrance to the kitchen at the back. The maids were surprised to see him carrying a child in his arms.
"Hello, everyone," he greeted the people in the kitchen.
The maids were so surprised to see the child that they couldn't respond. The head maid stepped inside the kitchen. She halted as soon as her eyes landed on the child.
She covered her mouth and gasped. "Is that child…. The master's secret child?"
"What?" the knight lost.
"How could the duke do this to the madam! I mean… I know the duchess is gone for a long time, but this…." she could not believe it.
The child blinks her eyes innocently at her.
"How old are you, dear?" the head maid asked the child.
"I'm five years old."
"Ah! The duke has had a secret affair for five years now?" the head maid is with mixed emotions. She did not know if she would get mad, disappointed, or hurt.
"This can't be. I need to go to the duke, now," the head maid turned around and dashed away.
"Ah, Head maid! Head maid!" the knight called out. "What is this misunderstanding from?" the knight gazed at the child once again.
The child stares back at him. That is when something realizes something. A face overlaps on the child, especially the pair of crimson eyes staring back at him.
"Shit! That is what I am feeling—that I missed something. Her eyes are the unique characteristic of a Ledroux. And those same eyes are the same as his grace."
***************
The door opened hastily, and the head maid entered without any notice and approached the duke's desk. The duke, who is busy doing his work while his attendant stands beside him handing him some documents, and the butler, who is bringing him a coffee to drink, are surprised by her sudden appearance.
"How could you do this, duke! How could you cheat on the madam!" she said with teary eyes.