Gloria Regali

Chapter Twenty Five

She had been there the moment Maria Contessina was brought to seclusion.

Victorina could clearly remember that day like no one else. She had been a young maidservant in the household of the Casa Byzantina back in 2005. She found it odd to be transferred in Casa Ladrillo as the princes had lived in the Casa Byzantina as their residence. Eventually, she and Consuela had been assigned to be her attendants.

Only the two of them had ever seen the face of the real spouse of Carlos Novales.

The two of them had found it odd that she had never revealed her face to the public. Maria Contessina had gone to several functions as a royal however she had worn a lace veil that covered her face. It took her a while to figure out the real reason behind her aloofness to the public.

It was in fact that one De Balmen girl had lived despite the execution.

She was living in hiding up until her ultimate death.The only witness to Carlos' marriage was the immediate members of the imperial family. It had been two years since she had arrived and lived in seclusion. The couple had been childless for two years.

The duchess of the Casa Ladrillo was seen to be a recluse as no one had ever seen her face. If she were to walk out, a veil was placed over her head and it hid her features. Throughout her seclusion, Maria Contessina had given birth to her first child at the age of 20. The child was frequently seen in the court yet the presence of the duchess was never seen. Five years later, she had fallen pregnant and gave birth to another girl.

The nobles had deemed her incompetent as she had failed to conceive a son for the empire.

Maria Contessina had been a recluse until the day Victorina had taken her place. No one knew about the demise of the real duchess besides the former Empress and Carlos. The impostor was the one who had found her floating in the river in the dead of the night.

No investigations occurred as the prince and the former empress quickly hid the truth in order to not tarnish the reputation of the imperial family.

Besides who would dare to care about a traitor's daughter?

Victorina who had studied the duchess' mannerisms in detail played the perfect body double of the late duchess. The duchess had died with child during her fateful fall. The child was placed in a special medical facility in order for her to survive without being in her mother's womb.

The impostor had to pretend to give birth in order to not arouse suspicion. A few months later, Maria Beatriz was introduced to the public as the youngest daughter of the eldest prince of the empire. Years later, she was still playing pretend at this game of power play in the palace.

Everything had been going smoothly until Anastasiya came along.

Victorina had saw her once ,back when the real Maria Contessina had been alive. The Andrada girl had come to the palace as she was invited to the palace by Alejandro himself. She could have sworn Maria Contessina's actions were unusual during that day.The impostor could have sworn that Anastasiya and Maria Contessina resembled one another.

Anastasiya visited during the morning and how ironic it was that the traitor's daughter was found dead the morning after.

Everyday that she happened to come across Anastasiya, the impostor was dearly reminded of her place in this palace power. Now that the Andradas rose to power for Anastasiya became the empress, her plans had been destroyed.

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Maria Aleta had been quieter than usual.

The duchess of Casa Byzantina had found it odd for the eldest infanta to stay within her rooms. Maria Aleta had just come back from the beaterio as she insisted to visit her aunt who was now the empress. She had not been able to attend her aunt and uncle's coronation for she was already in the beaterio for her studies.