The Duke’s Reborn Daughter Sometimes Chooses Violence.

It was midnight by the time we returned to the manor.

Despite my earlier resolve, my mind wandered. None of the Counts under House Veyne had approached me after the dance. They met my gaze well enough, but declined to breach the space between us.

You would think their Lady showing weakness would be the exact moment her retainers would side by her. They would have for my father. I was sure of that. It was because I was me that they didn’t.

One good conversation did not dispel a lifetime of rumors.

That was doubtless the gap Duke Greenward had really aimed for tonight. Before I could fully come into my authority, he meant to cripple me.

Bold. Effective.

“Fuck you,” I grumbled under my breath as I walked the halls of the manor. My knuckles were white where they gripped the sleek box. I took a deep breath, forcing my fingers to loosen before I crushed it.

An hour of restless tossing and turning in bed had proved to me that I wouldn’t be able to get much in the way of sleep tonight. So, I walked with a purpose to the kitchens.

In my hands, I carried a large, rectangular black box. One engraved with a blue logo in the form of a cake. Underneath it was the name ‘Layers’ written in pretty, blue lettering. The packaging was surprisingly nice, and the manservant I had asked to procure it at the event had been very happy to oblige.

At least Sere would be happy. She’d be asleep by now.

Hopefully, waking up to her promised sweets would be a good start to her day.

This part of the manor was quiet at this time of night. I had long since told the staff not to stay the night. It seemed unfair that people were working just in case I might have a craving when I should instead be asleep.

That’s why I was so surprised to hear…conversation.

“Can you stop chewing so loudly? Did nobody ever even try to teach you any manners?”

“Nope! Why don’t you come over here and teach me, see how that works out for ya!”

The door was already partly open, so I pressed it fully open with my hip to avoid dropping the box. I stepped inside and immediately spotted Damian sitting on the counter.

The chamber was large, twice as big as my already needlessly oversized bedroom. The room glowed with a soft blue light, thanks to the Magical Lights along the ceiling. Damian sat cross-legged in front of one of the three cold hearths.

He balanced a plate in his hand and, without turning from the door, brought a forkful of food to his mouth, though from this angle I couldn’t see what he was eating.

I didn’t spot Violet right away, focused as I was on the many chairs. She sat on a small mat on the floor, another plate before her. As I watched, she swallowed a cream puff whole. She met my gaze, glanced at her half-empty plate, then looked back at me.

“If you came here to steal my food in the middle of the night, you’re going to have to fight me first.”

“Err…that’s the last thing I was planning to do.” I gestured at the small box in my hand. “I was just going to put this somewhere here.”

Damian had turned around. “I wouldn’t do that, not with the she-beast here. She’s probably going to eat all of those sweets. The box, too, probably.”

Violet rolled her eyes and reached for another cream puff. I walked further into the room and placed the small box on the large oak worktable in the center. The table’s wood bore stains of just about every type and color; some were probably older than I was, in this life or the last.

I looked at the two of them.

Violet, I could somewhat understand. She was strange. Why wouldn’t I find her alone in the kitchen at midnight? As far as I was concerned, that made perfect sense.

Damian was different. My studious retainer abided by a ‘code’, which meant he went to sleep at a very set time, and woke up at a very set time, to do a very set number of things, in a very set order. Apparently, that was the “Knight’s Code”. It sounded like a painfully rigid routine.

“Couldn’t sleep?” I asked the obvious question.

Damian looked away from me, reached his hands towards a fire that didn’t burn. “I guess not. You can’t either, if you’re here.”

In my case, I often found myself awake late.

For every night I managed blissful sleep, there was another where a nightmare would wake me. Sometimes it took me a while to find sleep again. The reason might have been different today, but the result was the same.

“I’m just annoyed.” Damian finally said.

“By what happened?” I asked.

“By the fact that I couldn’t do anything. That smug bas-” He paused, looked at Violet, corrected himself. “He sure was smug. I just wish I could have done something.”

Violet snorted, licking cream off her thumb. ”What the hell were you gonna do? Punch him? Now that would have been funny to see.”

Damian’s eyebrows furrowed. “I was going to do more than you did, which was literally nothing.”

“Who said I wasn’t going to?!” Violet’s voice had gotten very sharp very quickly.

They were probably going to start arguing again if I didn’t stop this.

“It’s not like I could do anything either,” I said loudly. “He’s going to start testing me soon. He doesn’t have to do it directly either.”

Just thinking about it was going to give me a headache, the kind of headache I had wanted to avoid.

“It’s going to be a pain, and I’ll have my hands full. So…can you two just relax?”

They both glared at each other before reluctantly going back to what they’d been doing just moments prior.

Something brushed against my back.

There had been no shift in the air, no flare of mana. No sound of footsteps. My instincts screamed.

I channelled mana into my arm and whirled around.

I almost smacked Sere right in the face. She hurriedly backed away a step, arms raised outwardly in front of her.

“You startled me,” I said quickly, stopping my channeling altogether.

Dangerous.

The Godblade whispered, distantly.

I wasn’t the only one. Damian fell right out of his chair in surprise. Violet stared at Sere with her mouth hanging open, so surprised she’d forgotten to eat the last cream puff she was holding.

Evidently, even she hadn’t seen Sere, though that might have just been her being distracted.

Sere pulled out her notepad, scribbled, and turned it around.

Sorry. Night.

“It’s okay.” I smiled down at her. Gods, but the girl could be quiet when she wanted to. “I was actually here for you, you know.”

She looked momentarily confused until I gestured toward the black box on the worktable. As realization dawned, her face lit up. She rushed over to the table, reaching for the box. It was tightly wrapped, so I walked over to grab a knife to help open it.

I felt the channel of mana, turned, and saw that Sere had cut right through the box with just the tips of her fingers. She reached inside the small hole she’d made, opening it wider to reveal the contents within.

“Huh.”

Inside the box itself were more cream puffs, tarts, and cheesecakes.

I hadn’t had any of these before, and I didn’t know what Sere might like, so I had just had one of the manservants bring me some of everything. I vaguely knew that all of these sweets had been present on Earth, though I’d never gotten to try any.

They were somewhat new to this Kingdom and were apparently considered exotic.

“Nice cut.” Violet rose from the floor.

Damian came to stand beside her.

I got the distinct feeling that Sere might be moments away from getting robbed.

Sere eyed the numerous treats in front of her, before looking at the small crowd that had just formed in front of her.

“Don’t worry. Eat everything you want. If these two try stealing anything, I’ll make sure they regret it, okay?” I folded my arms, glanced at them. “Besides, it’s not like they didn’t eat more than they should have already.”

“Don’t judge me just because you starved yourself,” Violet said, pointing.

Damian had already stepped away. He wasn’t nearly as shameless.

Sere poked me in the side. I paused, turned to look at her again.

She was holding out one of the cream puffs in my direction.

“You…want me to have it?”

She nodded furiously.

“I don’t really….”

She frowned, and that was enough to make me sigh and take the small pastry from her. It was almost absurdly light in the hand, so delicate I was afraid I’d turn it into goo with the slightest effort.

Sere had already bitten into one and was letting out something similar to a squeal.

I gingerly bit into mine. It felt like trying to bite into a cloud. Cream filled my mouth almost immediately. It might be no exaggeration to say that this one cream puff might have been one of the best things I’d ever tasted.

“You’re supposed to eat them in one bite.” Violet drawled. “And have some shame. Don’t eat like that in front of people who don’t have any-”

She paused as Sere tapped her on the side. Sere was holding out another one from the box toward her.

“God damnit kid,” Violet muttered. “Don’t think this means I’m not going to beat the hell out of you in the morning.”

Sere just held it out more insistently. Violet’s face reddened, but she took the small ball and swallowed it in one bite, even as she tugged her braid with her other hand. Her face lit up, and after trying this for myself, I couldn’t exactly blame her.

Damian was the only one who stood off to the side, his posture rigid.

Sere waved him over, and he reluctantly approached, only to be handed a pastry of his own.

Sere was a good kid.

It was hard to think of her as anything else, no matter how much mana she might have had. No matter how close we were in age.

”Are you going to eat it, or stare at it?” Violet drawled, eyeing him from the floor.

“I’m appreciating it,” Damian said stiffly, pointing his free hand at her. “Did you even taste yours, or did you just inhale it?”

“Tasted fine to me,” Violet smirked, reaching for the box again.

Damian frowned at her even as Violet reached for the box again.

“She just wanted you to have one.” Damian blocked her hand with his left. “Do you know what the word ‘restraint’ means?”

“Nope. Good thing I’m not taking it from her anyway then, huh?”

“What?” Damian stared down at his now-empty right hand, free of food. Violet held his cream puff in her left hand.

How the hell did she manage that? I hadn’t even seen her move.

“You give that back!” Damian tried to snatch it from her again.

Violet moved her hand back and took a few steps away. She opened her mouth wide and held the cream puff above herself. “Why don’t you try and fucking get it then?”

Damian let out a roar and leapt at her, only for Violet to dodge out of the way in time. He ended up on his hands and knees, but he didn’t let that stop him as he charged at Violet again.

“Please don’t destroy my kitchen.” I groaned; my own voice couldn’t compare to their shouting. “Or wake up everyone….” Maybe I should look into getting two different estates for both of them.

Sere was holding something out to me again. I noticed she was trying very hard not to wince as she held her arm out.

It was a small cheesecake this time. She, herself, didn’t look too bothered by all the noise.

“You’re right.” I took it from her. “Let’s just ignore them.”

Even after a day like today, maybe it wasn’t so bad to act my age.

At least for a little while.