Vaela hesitated as she looked around at the threshold; before she did not have control over her life, it was that crazy author and now, being real, she did not know what to do as yet. She was trying her best to catch up with how fast everything was moving, as well as understand what was expected of her, what she needed to do, but due to her original nature, she was not one to be walked on, nor was she the type to back down.
Her eyes locked with that of the duke's, and her brows furrowed as the air thickened.
"Sit," The duke commanded and she nodded, then took her seat, silently and cautiously, not too far away from him.
She looked around the table, carefully studying their faces; so this was her new family.
They didn't look surprised to see her bruises or the fact she looked like she nearly died, which meant the original owner of the body had only been mostly unconscious before then she took over.
Probably a minor head injury. Maybe a magical backlash. A scandal, from the tightness in their expressions, or maybe it was something much more, since she was now in the body of a royal pain and the empire's most avoided instead of wanted female of the generation.
As servants placed dishes in front of them, the duke finally spoke.
"You will not ruin this academy, too." His voice was low, deliberate. "You have embarrassed this house enough and in this matter, I will remind you that you do not have a choice, since you had already been expelled from the previous one."
Hearing that, her head snapped up and Vaela blinked. "Pardon? What did you just say?"
He looked at her as if she was dumb. "Do not play games with me, girl; I am in no mood for your attitude."
Her brows twitched in irritation, then she forced a smile. 'He needs an attitude makeover; if I was myself, I would give him one.'
He frowned while keeping his gaze fixed on her. "I have never had anyone like you in this family; I wonder what sin I committed in my last life to have had you. Your behavior. Your disgraceful record. Expelled from three noble institutions in less than two years. Arson. Assault. Illegal use of spell runes on a professor, making his pants drop in the middle of an entire class. Do I need to continue?"
'Wow,' Vaela thought. 'This girl was efficient at chaos, but chaos comes with a cause. I wonder what your story is?'
Altira dabbed her lips with a silk napkin. "Vaela, we only tolerated your presence due to a blood contract. Don't mistake tolerance for affection."
The siblings didn't say a word, but their smirks were louder than thunder, their gazes sharper than a lightning strike and her eyes narrowed. She was starting to get the gist of this family, one more broken than a cracked vase.
'Wonderful,' she thought. 'I'm in a royal play, playing the disgraced extra, but I am tempted to teach these fools a lesson in manners.'
"Understood, Mother. I would not want to increase the venom on your tongue after all. Poisonous hearts have no cure, after all. I doubt you know much of affection," She jabbed, making everyone, including the servants around the manor, silent.
The brother choked on his drink, her sister's jaw slacked open and Altira's eyes twitched in humiliation and anger, while her father was looking at her with a stoic yet deadpan gaze.
The butler suppressed a laugh, as did a few of the servants and Altira stood up from her chair, her abruptness causing the chair to screech against the tiled floor.
"How dare you! You impudent brat," she yelled. "You should be thankful you even get a meal here you are nothing but your father's wh—"
The duke's sharp gaze caused her mouth to snap shut, and he sipped his tea with a nonchalance that could be described as dangerous; it was slightly unsettling, and Vaela's eyes narrowed as she maintained her focus on him.
'What the hell is wrong with this life? The only way to understand it is to dig deeper; something more is not right. I cannot rush; I have to take my time and settle in, but I will not be a pushover, though I have to take it slow and carefully,' she reasoned.
Before anyone could say anything else, a loud smack echoed throughout the room. Vaela's eyes widened as her head snapped to the side, and the servants flinched, their eyes widened as they stared in shock, but she could tell from the look on their faces that it was not an unusual sight.
"Does anyone else have any input?" He asked, and everyone remained silent, including his haughty wife. Vaela glanced at him, wiping the blood from her lips, and a smirk appeared on her face as she met his gaze; she did not even flinch, and his eyes narrowed with a glint as he looked at her.
"There is something seriously wrong with you," he told me. "But you will not disobey me in this manner; you will do well to remember your place."
She leaned back in her chair, smiling. "Of course, Father, I remember my place quite well. Also, before you comment on my state of mind, you may want to check your own mental capacity first; after all, the male genes tend to be very strong, so some of it must have transferred."
Hearing that, some of the servants turned away, trying not to laugh, and the butler's entire body shook with suppressed laughter; they knew this was not going to end well, but they could not help themselves; it was something they were used to, but things seemed a little different today than usual.
The duke's brow furrowed, and the veins on the side of his neck bulged, as if they were about to burst; his fingers twitched, looking like he wanted to strangle her as he glared down at her, wondering how someone her age and size could have such arrogance and attitude, with a tongue that seemed to have a comeback for even the smallest of things.