Successorship Final

This chapter's song is: Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis!

Viewer discretion advised: will contain touchy subjects on miscarriage and lots of blood.

Sylvia's POV:

It was five in the morning. I couldn't sleep much so I decided to explore the Dukedom. There was an abundance of gold and jewels everywhere, the silk curtains were neatly tied to the ends and the tables didn't have even a speck of dirt. Neither did the portraits.

Speaking of portraits, there were a lot of them. There were portraits of the late Duke, the Duchess, Rosetta and Ross. However, no matter how hard I looked, there were barely any of Rosabella.

"My lady, you're up early," a passing maid says as she spots me.

"Tell me, where can I find a portrait of Rosabella," I ask.

"Oh...Um... there are none that I know of..." She replies sheepishly.

"What do you mean?"

"It's said the second miss doesn't like taking portraits, so there are barely any of her," she says. I finally notice that the maid was holding a breakfast tray.

"Who's that for?" I ask.

"Oh, it's for the first miss."

"It looks very... simple," I comment.

"Ah yes, the first miss used to have spicy meats and fresh soup but a few weeks ago she started getting nauseous from the scent of them, so I changed it to dry fruits and simple yoghurt," she says.

I narrow my eyes, "I see. Bring breakfast to my room please. I'll be eating there while making some decisions."

"Yes, miss."

As I was walking back down the hallway, I saw another maid. This one was older than the others and looked at me with serious eyes. She nodded her head the other way, signalling for me to follow her. I did, seeing as what she wanted to tell me looked urgent.

The maid made me follow her to a corner before finally stopping.

"I assume you have something to say," I say.

"What that maid said was a lie..." The maid says as she turned to face me. She looked over 40.

"How was she lying?"

"Rosetta..." And what she said next shocked me. The maid told me things that completely changed everything in this problem. She then ran off, not mentioning where she was going.I return to my room, finally realising what was going on. I grab a piece of paper and begin writing my report. This continued for an hour before I finally called everyone together in the lounge room again.

"Have you finally made a decision, Sylvia?" Rin asks.

"I have, this is my final decision..." I say. The Peremin family listen eagerly for what I was about to say next.

"By the power vested in me, given by the temple and the Imperial Family... I, Sylviana De Crystal Scilla, daughter of the Duke of Scilla and the crown princess, announce that the next official Peremin heir will be Rosabelle Nythbl Peremin. She will have her father's first name bestowed on her and will be the next Duchess of Peremin," I announce.

"WHAT?!" The trio screams in shock. Rosabelle was the only one who smiled.

"How can this be my lady?! She's the second daughter?!" the Duchess cries. I notice the hat she was wearing,

"Is she really though?" I ask.

"W-what do you mean?"

"A certain birdie mentioned something about Rosabelle being the first daughter..." I say as I looked at the Duchess.

"What?" Ima says, dropping her pen.

"T-That's a lie! Rosetta is the first daughter!" The Duchess says, her face turning red.

"Sylvia, Rosetta is 20, and Rosabelle is 18, she can't be the first daughter," Rin says.

"Exactly! I'm older than Rosabelle so I'm the first daughter!" Rosetta says.

"There's a loophole to that. I've noticed a few things ever since Rosetta came to me for help. She always called Rosabelle sister... yet she called Margrave Bellweather Rosabelle's uncle, like Rosetta herself had no relation to him..." I say.

"That's..." Rosetta was flustered. That only proved my theory.

"So here's what I know about Margrave Bellweather. He had a sister who was married and had a daughter. Suddenly, that sister died of illness and the daughter was left. Then, a few weeks after his beloved sister's death, the Duke of Peremin remarried to his mistress who he had already sired two illegitimate children with. The Margrave was so angry but couldn't do anything since the daughter was still young and he believed that she still needed her father. Then, she found out that the daughter was being abused by that family and once the Duke died, he decided to help his niece take what's rightfully hers," I say as I look at the Duchess. Her face confirmed what I was saying.

"Then... the Duchess is actually the second wife of the Duke?" Ima asks.

"And... Rosetta and Ross are the illegitimate children..." Rin says.

"Correct," I say.

"No... It's not true! Tell them mother! We're the legitimate children! Rosabelle is the illegitimate one! You took her in because you felt sorry for her!" Rosetta says to her mother, looking at her with tear-filled eyes.

The Duchess stayed quiet.

"This can't be true! I'm the rightful heir! I'm the only male! That should account for something!" Ross yells.

"It accounts for nothing. Due to the Child protection law, sub-section 4, Illegitimacy. You are entitled to about 10% of the family wealth as child support. However, since you have lived lavishly this whole time while mistreating the legitimate child, you will only be allotted 5% of the wealth," I say. Ima was frantically writing this down while Aristella was stuffing her face and watching the show.

"But... why didn't Rosabelle mention this before?" Rin asks. "If she had, then this decision would have been made ages ago."

"To be honest, I only found out half a year ago when I finally met my uncle. He told me the truth about my mother. Before, I thought that my mother was just an ordinary maid whom my father had an affair with. When I realised it was the other way around, I wanted to avenge my mother by taking what's rightfully mine. However I couldn't really do it without proof. My uncle was gathering the proof right now as we speak. It's just that miss Sylvia has figured it out herself," Rosabelle says.

"Thank that maid. She looked about 40 or older, if it weren't for her then I would never have known," I say.

"Mary..." Rosabelle mutters. I assume Mary was the name of the maid. She must've been the only one to care for Rosabelle.

"No... NO! This cannot happen!" Rosetta screams before holding her mouth and gagging.

"Rosetta!" The Duchess and Ross exclaim as they support her.

"Oh yeah, Rosetta... It's best if you marry Nigel Tewper seeing as you're pregnant with his child," I say as I look at her.

"Pregnant?!" Everyone else shouts at the same time.

"Damn! This is a plot twist!" Aristella says.

"Aristella, hush!" Rin scolds.

"Pregnant?! How can you be pregnant?!" Ross asks.

"I-I-"

"Those late nights with Nigel..." Rosabelle says quietly. Rosetta's face turns red. Suddenly, the Duchess slaps Rosetta.

"How could you do such a thing?! You've ruined your future!" The Duchess cries as she falls back. Ross helps his mother sit on the chair. Rosetta kneels on the floor and grabs her mother's dress.

"Mother please help me! I don't want to marry Nigel! What happened that night was just an accident! I didn't expect I would get pregnant from it!" She cries.

"Help you? How the hell are we supposed to help you?!" Ross shouts. "Marrying Nigel is the only way for you to save your reputation!"

"No! I can't! I don't love him!" Rosetta screams.

"You should have thought of that before you did that filthy thing!" The Duchess shouts as she pushes Rosetta away. Rosetta falls to the floor, screaming.

"Careful!" I yell. Rin and Ima immediately run towards Rosetta who was clutching her belly.

"It... hurts..." I run towards Rosetta and release some dark magic inside her body, stabilising her and her child. Suddenly, the Duchess gets up and kicks us away before attacking Rosetta.

"If it weren't for this bastard, you could've married into the Scilla household!" The Duchess screams. I was shocked. So Rosetta was aiming for my brother? Rosetta screamed as the Duchess slammed her foot onto her body. I immediately use my ice magic to pin the Duchess down.

"Oh my god!" Ross gasps as he witnesses what his mother has done. Rin and Ima quickly run back to Rosetta, who was screaming in pain. There was blood.

"It'll be okay. Ima, you have some sort of healing magic. Make sure the child is not harmed," I order Ima.

"Guards!" Rosabelle calls out. The guards enter the room, shocked to see the scene before them.

"Arrest the Duchess! She has attempted murder of a noble!" I order. The guards were caught off guard but quickly did as they were told.

"Rosetta, hang in there," Rin says as she holds Rosetta. Finally, Ross snapped out of his trance and picked up Rosetta and laid her on the sofa.

"Is the child alright?" Rosabelle asks.

"I'm trying my hardest to stop the bleeding," Ima says.

"What's... happening to her...?" Aristella asks. Rin snaps her head back to Aristella.

"Rosabelle, please take Aristella out of here, she shouldn't see this," Rin says. Rosabelle quickly nods before taking Aristella away, making sure to block her view of this.

"Damn! How could the Duchess do this?!" I grunt in frustration.

"My mother must've not been in her right mind. She couldn't have done this intentionally," Ross attempted to excuse.

"That doesn't excuse what she did! This child is innocent!" Rin says. Ima was using most of her holy power to stop the bleeding. Rin was trying to calm Rosetta down. Ross ran to find a doctor. Finally, Ima stopped healing.

"I've stabilised her, but she needs an actual doctor to assess whether the child is in danger," Ima says.

"Mother..." Rosetta cries as she clutches her belly.

"Shh, it's okay," Rin says gently.

"My child..." Rosetta says weakly.

"It's going to be fine. The doctor is coming..." I say. To be honest, I didn't know whether the child was fine or not. I just didn't want to worry her. She was weak already and this news could push her over the edge.

Ross came soon with the doctor. Rosetta was taken to her room and we were all waiting in anxiety in the lounge room. There was dead silence. Rosabelle and Ross were in the same room. Aristella was sent home in the carriage while Rin stayed to help the situation.

"Pass on this order..." I say to Ima. Ima scrambled to get her pen and paper. "The Duchess will be tried and sentenced on the grounds of attempting to harm a noble. She will automatically be stripped of her title so she will be tried as a commoner," I say.

"My lady, if that happens then-" Ross starts.

"Then what? Are you seriously going to try and defend your mother when she did that to your sister?" I ask. Ross remained silent.

"I- I never thought this would happen..." Rosabelle says.

"Shouldn't you be pleased. You hated her," Ross scoffs.

"I never wished this upon her! I'm not that evil, I'm not your mother!" She shoots back. "I just wanted what was rightfully mine. None of this was ever yours to begin with. You're just visiting what was always mine. It's because of you and your family's greed that this happened to Rosetta!"

"That's enough. How could you two be squabbling over something as materialistic as property when your sister and her unborn child are in grave danger," Rin says. The siblings shut up. I cup my face in my hands. Successorship problems were always messy and people normally got hurt. But there was never a case where a woman would try and harm her daughter's unborn child.

The doctor finally came into the room. Everyone stood up.

"Is she alright?" Ross asks.

"The child is fine. But the lady is weak. I recommend complete bed rest and a strict nutritional diet. Any stress could be fatal for the child," he says. Suddenly, Ross fell to his knees  next to Rosabelle.

"Rosabelle, I know we have grown estranged. And I know how much you hate us... But please let Rosetta stay here until the end of her pregnancy. If she gets sent to Nigel then she's sure to be stressed," Ross begs.

Rosabelle looked unsure. I could tell she was conflicted on what to do.

"Once the child is born, she'll leave. I promise you, just please let her stay," Ross says. There was a momentary silence before Rosabelle said something.

"Fine. For the sake of our childhood, I'll let her stay. But she had better not try anything," Rosabelle says. Ross sighs in relief as he thanks her.

"I think we should be heading home now, I'll visit again soon to complete the paperwork," I say as I grab Ima and Rin's hand.

"Yes, I think today has been tiring for all of us. I wish you a safe journey..." Rosabelle says. We had the butler escort us out. The carriage ride was a long and quiet one. I dropped Rin and Ima off before returning to my home. As I was walking towards my room, I saw Silver.

"You look like the dead," he comments.

"Not today Silver, not today," I say tiredly as I dragged myself to my room and collapsed on the bed. The sun was shining but I still fell asleep. I didn't want to wake up...