I'm the heroine's dead twin... nice! (BL)

Part 3

Ophelia POV

Ever since the young master woke up from his coma, he's been acting strange. Not in a necessarily bad way. Just... strange.
I already know that he's not an imposter, his habits were all still intact, other than his behavior with his father and siblings (not that I'm complaining, they're shit).

'It's just that it isn't like him at all. Then again, he had a near death experience and the culprits didn't even bother to check up on him, so it's perfectly understandable. I just hope that this change is permanent, for his sake.'

If you ask me, I truly don't understand the Ambrose family's intentions for treating my master like that, it seems pretty retarded to me, and I'm sure that the late duchess is seething at them from where she's watching. Hell, she might even kick those three down to the gates of hell herself.

Today, the young master is finally getting out of his room, and I intend to make it as enjoyable for him as possible (preferably without the interference of the grand duke or his other children).

I am not one of the grand duke's people. The previous duchess saved my life after my mother's death and I became her personal maid. I am only still here in the duchy according to her will, which is to raise her youngest children as my own if she's ever unable to do so herself, and I'm doing just that, because the duke doesn't seem to want to be a competent father.

I walked towards my master's room to wake him up, with two other maids in tow. We entered his room, seeing him sleeping peacefully. Although he looks like the younger version of the first child who's praised for resembling his father a great deal, when I look at my young master, I can see nothing that he shares with his father except for his hair. If the youngest lady resembles young master, she'll probably grow up to be the late duchess's silver version.

I can already see the marriage proposals piling up into a mountain in front of them both. The duke sure would have had a lot of work in keeping the pests at bay, had he cared.

"Ophelia, are you okay? You zoned out. Should I wake up the young master?" Mary, one of the two maids, asked.
"There's no need." I replied and swiftly went forward to wake up my master.

"Young master, it's time to wake up." I nudged him gently. He wasn't a morning person, but he was always easy to wake up, 'to just get it over with', he says.

"Hmmm, just a second." He said and lifted himself up with his arms and stretched himself awake. He really acts like a cat sometimes. After he was awake, we took him to the bathroom to wash him up. He says it's his favorite part of the morning as it's relaxing. I agree wholeheartedly.

After the bath we dressed him up and tied styled his hair into a low ponytail. He looked absolutely adorable and I still can't understand how his family even has the heart to hurt him so much. I really can't wait for the arrival of the young miss. I'm sure she'll be just as lovely.

After we dropped master off at the dining hall, I went back to grab a parasol for our time in the garden. I later came back, just five minutes before young master came out. I smiled at him: "Would you like to head out after greeting your father, yong master?"

"There's no need for that, Ophelia. Let's go." He grabbed my hand and lead me to the gardens. 'That's new.' I couldn't help but wonder. In the garden, he was quiet and admired the flowers. I loved taking him out to the gardens, as his eyes always shone here. In moments like these, if anyone ever had any doubts about him being the duchess's son, they would disappear immediately, it was truly a sight to behold.

But I still had questions.

"Is there anything in particular that you're not telling?"
He smiled knowingly at me. Alas, it only made me more curious. "Let's find a good spot to sit down."

I was relieved. If he says that we should sit down first, that means he's intending to properly talk about it instead of dodging my questions. Of course, I'm not going to press for answers if it makes him uncomfortable.

We sat down underneath an almond tree. He started to stare at me 'My cue to ask my questions.'
"Young master, pardon me if I'm meddling, but I noticed you were acting somewhat different than usual after you woke up from your coma." "That's right, I've been acting unusually lately. I imagine that it left you to wonder." "Somewhat."

He looked at me in the eyes, and they looked like the eyes of someone who's lived for a lot longer than seven years. "You see, Ophelia. I almost died around a month ago, and you told me yourself. None of them came to even check if I was still breathing." He smiled sadly at me. My heart broke. "Turns out, near death experiences also have an enlightening effect. I realized that it wasn't fair for me to be the only one who's trying to build a relationship. Besides, how could I trust people who don't even bother to take a minute of their day- scratch that, a minute of their MONTH to visit me in my deathbed, with anything at all?"

I felt my eyes watering, but managed to hide it from the child I've come to love as my own. To be this wise at such a young age, to be so logical, was truly tragic. Children should be allowed to be children without having to learn about such complex matters until much later. Nor should he or any child have to work to "earn" their family's love.

I slowly reached out to the boy and hugged him tightly, somewhat cradling him in my arms. He was tense at first due to shock, but recovered quickly as I felt his short arms wrapping around my back, clutching my uniform. We stayed like that and eventually, I felt something wet on my shoulder and the shaking of the little boy in my arms.

I just let him cry to his heart's content and he did, slightly whimpering and sobbing.

We stayed like that for another ten minutes until young master cried himself to sleep. After that, I carried him to his room, garnering the concerned looks of the other servants as I did so 'I'm glad I'm not the only one with common sense in this house. Fortunately, young master doesn't have his classes till tomorrow.'

As we arrived at his chamber, I carefully took off his shoes, socks and changed him into his bed wear. Thankfully, it seemed that his emotions finally caught up to him and he was sleeping peacefully. After pulling his covers, I sat down on a chair beside his bed, not wanting him to wake up alone and be confused. As I sat there, caressing his head, I didn't notice that I was dosing off myself.