Kissing The Wind

The king sitting on his throne smiled at  Sydnee. “Raise your head,” he said.

Sydnee raised her head while she maintained her gaze on the floor. She was taught not to meet the gaze of the king as a subject.

“Your daughter is indeed a beauty.”

“Thank you, My King.”

Sydnee tried hard not to pursed her lips nor to look at the Duke who was standing beside her. She thought that the Duke did not let anyone know that he could talk, except for his confidante. But it turned out that the king knew that truth all this time.

It was good that only the King and the eunuch by his side was present in the throne room excluding the two of them. At least the information that Duke Theodore could talk was still a secret. It was nice not to invite unneccessary trouble on the household.

After some time, the king granted Sydnee a tutor for both etiquette and education. She lowered her head and thanked the king, although she was indignant with the tutor of etiquette. Did the king think that she still needed an etiquette teacher?

“You seemed mad,” Duke Theodore said when they were inside the car.

She smiled and looked outside the closed window. “It’s nothing, duke.”

“Now that you achieve the things you want, would you still stir the powers in the capital?” he asked.

Sydnee thought for a while, before she shook her head. “I have what I wanted, and it’s not good to continue stirring them. They might notice something amiss and would find fault in silent officials  eventually.”

“That’s good. You know when to strike and when to retreat.”

“Thank you for the compliment, Duke.” Sydnee beamed at him.

The Duke just smiled gently at her and pat her head. “When you graduated college, I’ll announce an official heiress. For now, just endure the troubles in the mansion.”

“It’s not worth mentioning. Catarina would always pick fight, but I could still control her.”

“Be careful when dealing with her. I have received an information that Catarina had started to contact the spies lingering across the kingdom. I am still going after their clues. Sooner or later, she would contact the spy outside of the kingdom. And they would make move  at that time.”

“I know.” She frowned.

The duke had already told her why he would not want Catarina to inherit the dukedom. It turned out that Catarina was a spy that the enemy kingdom sent to Obando fourteen years ago. The enemy kingdom planned to take roots in the kingdom through Catarina when she inherited the dukedom, to bring disaster upon the kingdom.

Sydnee could understand how a mere dukedom could be the downfall of the whole kingdom. Didn’t she just use lately the intelligence group under the Duke’s command? And being the trusted aide of the Duke, she happened to form a group of elite officers from the intelligence division of the Duke to run errands for her.

She was just a little girl who stirred up the powers in the capital, yet it was a big commotion that if those princes didn’t use their wits to investigate and stop the spread of rumors, would ended up to more troubles and more fractions would be destroyed.

If Catarina could get a hand over this kind of power, what could be the kingdom’s status in just a month?

She sighed. “When will the tutors arrive in Obando, Duke?” she asked.

Her eyes watched the big buildings outside the car’s window. The car was travelling towards the border and unto the next teritory.

“They might arrive tomorrow,” he answered.

Then they went silent until they arrive at the mansion. She let the Duke exited the car first, before she hopped off. Catarina was nowhere in sight. She sighed in relief. That girl would only there to pick on her but she was not in the mood to teach that girl a lesson, because she was going to prepare for tomorrow.

The duke watched Sydnee ran to the entrance. He shook his head and chuckled. The girl was really…

There’s nothing much to prepare but Sydnee was nervous. The king ordered the two royal tutors to teach her etiquette and education. These tutors were the ones who taught the princes, so she was excited and nervous to meet them.

She jumped off the bed when there was a loud banging on the door. Sydnee frowned. Was it Catarina again?

She opened the door before another loud bang, and a body fell on the floor. She looked down on Catarina who was sprawling on her doorway. She chuckled. “I didn’t know there’s a beggar inside this mansion.”

Catarina glared at her and stood. The girl’s cheeks were red due to embarrassment. “I don’t have time to quarrel with you, sister!”

Sydnee raised her brow. “What do you want?”

“The second prince is below! He wants to talk with you!” Catarina huffed and walked away with her head held high.

Oh. The second prince was looking for her?

She checked her dress and it was presentable, so she immediately went down. Sydnee first saw Lady Geneva on a one-seater sofa, and the second prince was sitting opposite the woman. They both turned their heads on her when they heard her footsteps.

Lady Geneva’s face darkened when she saw how unkept Sydnee’s dress and hair were. “My good daughter,” she said between gritted teeth. “Come and join us for a tea.”

Sydnee shrugged her shoulders and sat on the sofa far away from the two. She turned her attention to the second prince. “Do you need something?” she asked.

The second prince frowned at how disrespectful Sydnee’s tone was, but then immediately smiled. “The tea is imported from the neighboring country. It is delicious and has a gentle taste.” The prince offered her the tea cup.

Lady Geneva twitched her lips while Sydnee frowned. Sure thing, this prince has something else in mind. “What do you want?” she asked.

The smile on prince’s face faded as he faced Lady Geneva. The latter left them two in the living room.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“I want to get your support for my ascension to the throne.”

Sydnee raised her brow. “I don’t have anything to do with the throne. Why are you asking me? I don’t have power in the capital.”

Did he know that she was the one who instigated the recent chaos in the capital?

The second prince leaned slightly into her direction. “I see that the duke cares about you more than your sister Catarina. Now that you have gained my father’s favor, it is enough.”

“Oh?” Sydnee played the tea cup but she never took a sip. “What do you want me to do then?”

The second prince smiled at her words. “Marry into my household as a concubine.”

Sydnee froze. A glint flashed across her eyes and then disappeared after a second. She put the tea cup back on the table. “Concubine?”

“Yes.”

“And why do you think that I’ll agree with your proposal?”

“I will protect you from my brothers. I will also give you all the riches and make you equal with my princess consort.”

Sydnee laughed. “Just a concubine and you are bragging your riches. Don’t assume that I’m easy to fool, prince. Now that you have lost a lot of your supporters, you are knocking on our doors. Being humble won’t kill you.”

The prince gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. “I am giving you a favor. Don’t be complacent!”

She shrugged her shoulders and grinned at the prince. “I won’t marry into the royal household. Not to you, nor to your brothers, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Sydnee Lurica –”

“It’s Mondragon. And of course, the king had granted me the title of First Princess, if your informat haven’t told you yet. If you have nothing else to say…” Sydnee stood and turned around. “I’ll leave first. Please enjoy your tea.”

Early in the morning, the duke’s mansion was bustling. The tutors have arrived earlier than usual so the maids were busy preparing meals for the esteemed guests. Lady Geneva and Sydnee welcomed the two tutord. Duke Theodore was doing errands for the king that’s why he was not present in that moment.

One of the tutors named Manuel looked at Sydnee. He nodded. “A young and brave girl. I can teach you the virtue of a royal princess as what the king had instructed me to do.”

Sydnee smiled and bowed her head to him. “Thank you, tutor.”

She received an approving gaze from the two of them. In that morning, she toured them around the mansion. Lady Geneva did not pick on her and put an act of being a lovely mother to Sydnee. She did not mind it at all. She was glad that Catarina was not around to make troubles for her. The Lady might lock Catarina in her room to avoid any troubles.

The very next day, Sydnee started to learn from the two tutors. The course session which was an alternative education to her college was being held in the morning, while the etiquette is being held in the afternoon.

Sydnee was learning well, but after sometime, Catarina would pick troubles with her. So the Lady let Catarina stay in the University dormitory.

Time flew by and it was the fourth year of Sydnee’s home schooling. The two tutors did not only taught sydnee the course lessons and etiquette, they also taught her the political structure of the kingdom and other neighboring kingdoms.

The Duke asked the king’s permission for her to learn the political structure to prepare Sydnee in her inheritance. The king first hesitated because Sydnee was born of a commoner, but since the public has a good impression of Sydnee and that Sydnee became the living ‘connection’ between the noble and the commoner, the king agreed and gave his blessings on Sydnee being an official heiress.

Little did they know, the spies from the enemy kingdom who hid across the kingdom were waiting for Catarina to inherit the dukedom.