After an unexpected encounter with Duke Cassius in the corridor in the middle of the night, he took me to the forbidden wing of the castle, where I had never been before.

Walking behind him and wondering what exactly he wanted to show me, I also thought that this was the rare occasion when I could thank him in private.

Contrary to the rumors and my initial opinion about him, Duke Cassius turned out to be a "normal guy" who helped us a lot. I could not count on the warm welcome that he provided to an almost unknown girl. In the end, a sense of duty could not allow me to forget about it.

So I decided it was time for us to get even closer.

— Sir?

The man nodded his head, indicating that I could continue.

— Can I call you "father" from now on?

After my sudden request, Duke Cassius choked violently.

— What? — he even stopped, staring at me, — When did I become your "father"?

— Well... — I was confused, — Isn't that what the wife's relatives are called? I thought it would be better than continuing to address you as "sir".

The Duke frowned, as if I had just uttered some nonsense with which he categorically disagreed.

— It's not worth it.

After such a dry refusal, I thought about it. What does he dislike so much? Maybe the word is wrong?

— Then how about "father-in-law"? I suggested doubtfully.

Judging by the expression on Duke Cassius' face, this address sounded even worse to him. He was silent for a while. Apparently, noticing my resolute attitude and the fact that I would not leave this venture one way or another, he resigned himself.

— Okay. Call me "father."

He sighed heavily as he continued on his way. I just smiled happily.

After a couple of minutes of wandering through the dark corridors, we appeared in front of a wide black door, which remained locked all this time. In general, there were many rooms in the duke's house that were inaccessible to any other people except himself and perhaps Rachel. This was one of them. I have never seen even maids enter it.

Feeling that the moment of truth had come right now, I was worried.

The man took out a bunch of keys from his inner pocket, which were made only in one copy and only for him. Choosing a large and beautiful carved key made of black iron, he turned it in the keyhole, and the door opened with a soft creak.

At first I didn't see anything, because it was even darker there than in the corridor. Without saying a word, Duke Cassius went inside, and I followed him.

The light from one lamp was still enough so that I, staying nearby, would not accidentally run into some corpse lying on the floor. And that's exactly what I expected to see here, since the duke brought me here in such secrecy.

Then, as if intuitively figuring out what was where, the man, almost in complete darkness, found another lamp somewhere and lit it for me. Now, there is more light. After all, as I understood, there was no switch in this room.

But meanwhile, I still didn't understand why we were here. Duke Cassius gave me the answer to that in the next second.

The man pulled off a heavy cloth from the wall, which I hadn't noticed before, and a huge canvas with a picture appeared to my eyes. The work was old, but despite this, it has been perfectly preserved to this day.

I immediately recognized Duke Cassius on it. As the years passed, he did not change at all, and there were almost no differences from the handsome young man of those times and the present one. Perhaps the only difference between the young duke was that he was smiling.

And very soon, I realized the reason.

Pretty quickly I realized that it was a family portrait, and next to the man there was a beautiful woman whom I had not met before. She was strikingly different from Duke Cassius. The young lady had long blonde hair, a glowing face and a friendly smile. In general, even without knowing her personally, one picture gave the impression that she was a good person.

Duke Cassius looked sadly at the canvas.

—Father, is that...?" I turned to him uncertainly.

— You got it right, — the man sighed, — This is Rachel's mother.

To be honest, I would be lying if I said that I was very surprised. Considering that during all this time I have never seen her, I could assume that she either left or died. And as it became known, the second option turned out to be the right one.

— How did this happen? I asked quietly, then realizing late that such a question was not entirely appropriate, given the look of grief on the duke's face.

But he, meanwhile, still answered me.

— Childbirth, — he said shortly, — Everything happened so suddenly that the doctor did not have time to arrive before…

Then he fell silent, but even without detailed explanations, the situation became clear. After all, death from childbirth during the Middle Ages was by no means uncommon. Especially, without modern medicine, it became extremely difficult to help a person in an emergency situation. But it was such an irreversible death that was the saddest.

I looked at the woman in the portrait again, and noticed that she and Rachel had almost nothing in common. The girl inherited the genes of Duke Cassius, and was completely his copy. Most likely, this happened to all the descendants of this family.

At that moment, I suddenly remembered how Rachel had called her during her illness. I wonder what it's like to never see your mother?

Although, I didn't have one either. But until that time I didn't think about it, because I always had a loving father. With his care, the Archduke replaced Leriana with both parents, and she did not feel unhappy about this.

But Rachel… Considering how cold her relationship with her father was, she was deprived of even that. This question still worried me.

Noticing my vague expression, Duke Cassius finally decided to tell me everything. In all these years, I became the first person to whom he told this story.

I listened to his heavy speech, and with each word I understood the situation more and more.

As it turned out, the death of his wife was a shocking event for him, which he could not have expected. Duke Cassius became a single father at a young age, and had absolutely no idea what to do. Having no idea how to raise children, he delegated this task to servants.

Due to his youth and inexperience, the man believed that he was doing the right thing by entrusting the upbringing of his daughter to strangers. In the end, he didn't even know how to handle her, and in this regard, it seemed that he ignored her.

The Duke sincerely believed that since Rachel lived in prosperity and had everything she needed, she would have a happy childhood. He himself took almost no part in this process. Throughout his childhood, the man did not pay attention to her, believing that his servants were doing an excellent job with this.

Thus, he missed all the most significant events in her life. Instead of attending his daughter's birthday, he preferred work, after just sending her expensive gifts. But is this what a real family should look like...?

Naturally, given that her father treated her coldly throughout her childhood, Rachel simply decided that he did not need her. And over time, I stopped needing it. Despite the fact that in recent years the duke finally realized everything and tried to catch up, the girl refused to accept his care. Simply because the right time has already been missed, and she has grown up.

In general, it seems that I finally understood the nature of their relationship, and why they could not find a common language with each other. The wall that Duke Cassius had built himself between him and his daughter a long time ago was still a big obstacle. Which, perhaps, will remain so until the end of life.

I blamed Duke Cassius, but at the same time I sympathized with him. After all, not everyone is able to admit their mistake on their own. The man was able to improve, and for a long time he tried to establish contact with Rachel.

But, as it turned out, his problematic attitude towards her as a child was not the only problem.

Hesitating for a long time whether to tell me about it or not, the duke eventually sighed. Unpleasant memories from the past rose before his eyes.

"Something happened a long time ago that Rachel still can't forgive me for," he began slowly.

— And what is it? I wondered, wondering what else he could have done.

The man paused, then began to tell as if to himself. My existence in this room was forgotten.

"When Rachel was seven years old, I took her to a social event for the first time," he said, "She had never left the estate before, and I thought it would be nice if Rachel found friends among her peers. I didn't want her to spend her life alone, too. But..." he hesitated, "as it turned out, it was all one big mistake.

I didn't say anything, waiting for the Duke to continue on his own.

— That day, the son of an aristocrat, in whose house the banquet was held, and a couple of other children were seriously injured. All this time, she and Rachel were in the same room, and she was the only one who was not injured. Therefore... everyone present accused her," the Duke winced unpleasantly, "and... I was one of them.

He sighed heavily, then continued:

— It seemed to me that I was doing the right thing. After this incident, I locked her at home for a whole year and forbade her to go outside. Rachel swore to me that it wasn't her fault and asked me to believe her. But... at that moment, I just turned away from her, and sided with these people. I even made her apologize... even though she didn't do it anyway.

I was still silent.

— And only later I found out that in fact, these children were bullying her. She was called a "cursed demon" and said that such as she had no place in the empire. But Rachel didn't say a word to me, and only broke down at the moment when they began to insult her mother. She was an aristocrat who betrayed her family to marry me when her parents wouldn't let her. Since then, they have declared her a traitor.

The Duke grimaced.

"But I guess that's what made her disillusioned with me as a father." When I abandoned her in spite of what I was supposed to protect to the end.

For a while, neither of us said a word, thinking about our own. After that, I decided to ask him:

"Father, actually, I've always wanted to know why you accepted me.

— Hmm?

— When I came to your house… You didn't ask me anything. Are you really not interested in anything?

Duke Cassius smiled faintly.

— In fact, I would approve of any person Rachel wanted to bring.

— What? — I was surprised.

"The fact that she accepted you already says a lot," he remarked, "Rachel has been alone all her life, and I, as a father, know this better than anyone. You are the first one who was able to overcome this barrier. Even for me, it turned out to be an impossible task.

— That is… Did you put up with it just because Rachel didn't push me away?

The Duke hesitated.

His gaze once again slid over the mark on my neck, and I once again wondered what was so special about her, since everyone was staring at her.

Then, he said:

— Leriana, actually, I have a lot of hope for you.

- what?

— Promise me something, — the man said excitedly, turning in my direction, — I want to believe that you will always be on the side of my daughter.

I stumbled, not quite understanding what he was driving at.

"I've already betrayed her once," he said unbearably sadly, "so you don't have to repeat my mistakes. Or else… I'm afraid Rachel won't be able to handle it.