The Duke's Daughter's Third Life

Chapter 5

Aeliana stirred in her sleep before slowly opening her eyes. She yawned, rubbing her eyes as she reached out to her side.

She blinked, moving her hand around the bed and frowned. Where did her teddy bear go?

"Good morning, my lady." Flora greeted her as she came inside, opening the curtains.

"Good morning, have you seen my teddy bear?" she asked, squinting as the morning light blinded her until she fully adjusted to it.

Flora shook her head, "Wasn't it with you?"

"It was! But when I woke up, it was gone."

Flora hummed in reply, bringing Aeliana to the bathroom. She handed Aeliana her toothbrush before replying,

"I think I might have seen it."

"Really?! Where?"

"My lady please finish brushing your teeth before speaking." Flora chuckled.

Aeliana quickly finished brushing her teeth and washed her face before turning to Flora. Flora wiped her face with a towel and spoke,

"It might be with Lord Marius and Lord Darius."

"...What?"

Aeliana didn't waste another second and ran out of her room. She could hear Flora yelling at her to not run as she had just barely recovered from the accident thanks to magic but her teddy bear was at stake right now!

'If they do something to it!' Aeliana grit her teeth, running down the hallways and stairs.

She ran outside and looked around. Unable to find the two brothers she was searching for, she continued running around until she stopped at the swordsmanship practice area.

Aeliana was out of breath from running around. She looked inside the practice area and found the culprits. Her teddy bear was tied to a wooden practice dummy.

"My teddy bear!" she shouted and ran over to where her bear was.

She wanted to untie it but it was tightly knotted. She heard a loud snicker behind her.

Marius swung his wooden sword around and rested it on his shoulder, "That stuffed toy is a good practice dummy!"

Beside him, Darius quietly watched saying nothing. Aeliana balled her fists before taking a deep breath, calming herself down.

"Why did you take my bear?"

Marius mockingly laughed at her, "Like I said, it was a good dummy for practice."

Aeliana pointed at the dummy doll they were using and replied, "Then why did you have to put it on another dummy?"

"..Y—you wouldn't understand the reason!"

"Because you don't have any!" she retorted back.

Marius' face turned red but she couldn't tell if it was from anger or embarrassment or perhaps both. He stormed over to the dummy, glaring at her. Without another word, he lifted his practice sword up and stabbed it into the stuffed bear.

Although the sword was blunt and wouldn't hurt, it was still able to cut through the fabric. Aeliana heard a ripping sound and her eyes widened in horror.

Darius didn't expect the situation to escalate and was just as surprised as she was, his pink eyes as wide as saucepans.

Marius gawked at the aftermath. He dropped his sword down to the ground, untying the bear off the dummy doll and slowly looked over at Aeliana. His lips were quivering.