Grand Duke Cajarte

Chapter 30

Grand Duchess Madelaine Cajarte

"Why am I eight?" I asked my reflection in the mirror. I saw a girl in her adorable nightgown with dried saliva around her mouth. Then, it strikes me. I was currently dreaming and this seem a walk in the past.

I remember when I was young, a time that I was still petite and have a slender body. My life was peaceful as I live with ease. There was no problem for me to worry because mother will make a way for them not to bother me.

"Miss the bath is ready but we need to brush your hair first."

My hands were soft, it was the proof of not having a single work to do and I continue to rely on the shoulder of the hundred servants in our mansion. I always wore my clean dresses for once and my jewelries are bountiful. Sometimes, the maids will bring my food at my room when I'm too lazy to stand up from the bed.

That was my life while my biological mother was still breathing in the same air with me. She was a lovable being, her angelic face couldn't compare to the other nobles. Her graceful acts ruled in the society as she held the most influence lady, that it will be an honor to be able to have a chat with her over a cup of tea.

"Madelaine, don't slump your back."

"Yes, mother," I involuntarily answered her according to my memory.

Mother always has this elegant posture, no matter where she is. She was the perfect wife to manage the Austria household.

In my eyes, she was strict and firm especially with my studies. However, even she was tight and righteous with me, I look up to her and wished that someday I will be like her. My desire of growing up the way she wants was strong and I believed in her that I was taking the right path by listening to her.

She was a stone-cold person as what my father described of her. Yet, he doesn't notice the way mother stare at him with full of gentleness and affection. I can whisper in myself that she loves him too deeply that she was scared with her own feelings.

I recalled that she has a warm hand that caress my cheek and my heart will clench in delight. Her careful words soothe my tense shoulder as she strokes my hair strands with prudence.

"Madelaine, I'm sorry."

One sunset moment, was the time she falls apart and couldn't kept her emotions to be caged in the middle of our lesson. Her knees tremble as she collapsed on the floor and her elbows were resting on the edge of the table. She tried to hide her tears from the innocent me by burying her face in her arm. Though, her cries were mild but her pain stab in my chest.

She vulgarly messes the decoration on our table and shout her frustrations. The water from the broken vase that she shattered, reach into my bare feet. The flowers wither and pieces of the glasses from the porcelain glimmered with despair.

"You're father..."

I can glimpse with my eyes on how she bit her lips to stop me from hearing her sobs. I'm aware that she wanted to be strong in front of me. Yet, she couldn't be stable anymore like she was before.

"He has another woman."

"Mother, I don't understand. Please smile now."

An eight-year-old child would probably fail to comprehend what she wants to imply. However, I couldn't forget each phrase that came out from her pale lips. All I can describe about her current image; she was drowning into a deep agony.

"I'm sorry Madelaine."

Her tears finally burst out and there was no restraining her broken voice anymore as the room turned gloomy and filled with her sorrow. She let out a heart-wrenching cry and even I was just a mere child, I can feel her being miserable.