Betty approachs to luna , while luna decides to fake sleep
Betty stood standing next to lunas bed and was glaring at her ...
Luna can feel the malice in Betty eyes...So much hatred ...
It was like something was holding her back for so long ...
Betty throws a simple dess on the ground that it might rip out ...
Betty slams the door in rage and leaves ...
[Luna Controls herself my turn will come , be patient]
A simple dress with yellow embroidered flowers on it , square shape neck and not so long ... an old dress of late duchess I guess .... Must be the Counts order .
[She's here ]...
The grand doors of Count Alaric estate creaked open, letting in a sliver of afternoon light...
Luna, a pale and jewel like eyes on her mother's dress , girl of nine, stood just inside the threshold..
Her small hands clutched the hem of her worn dress, and her eyes wandered around the opulent room filled with velvet drapes, golden chandeliers, and polished marble floors....
At the far end of the room sat Count Alaric himself, a stern figure dressed in black, his fingers steepled beneath his chin...
Beside him stood Isabella....elegant, poised, and dressed in a gown of sapphire silk....
Her sharp eyes fell on Luna, and for a moment, something flickered across her face.
"Oh, what a beautiful girl," Isabella said, taking a graceful step forward. "Such lovely eyes… and such grace.... I want to adopt her."
Count Alaric raised an eyebrow... "Do whatever you want with her," he said, his voice low and indifferent. "But know this...
there's a debt on her head. Three thousand."
Isabella's eyes did not blink...
She was mesmerized by her beauty ...
She turned her gaze to Luna again, studying the child like a merchant inspecting fine porcelain...
Three thousand. A small price, Isabella thought, for what she saw in Luna....
not just beauty....
The kind that could charm, deceive, and one day earn back far more than what was owed. She was no fool. She knew exactly what she was doing.
[Luna , Here she is , Isabella, lover of the Duke of North and a villain, but why she want's me , in the original novel . It was written that she adopted me and turned me into her daughter, but never really explained about why me !? ]
"I'll take her," Isabella said with a nod, her voice like honey over ice. "The debt , I'll pay it little by little ...
Count Alaric , do whatever you want..
"She's yours."
Luna stood quietly, she expected this . Her eyes shifted between the Count and the woman who now claimed her.
And as Isabella took her hand and led her from the room, the great doors closed behind them with a dull thud, echoing like the end of one life. ... and the beginning of another....
The carriage wheels rolled steadily across the cobbled road, their rhythm a quiet lullaby beneath the sound of hooves and the occasional rustle of wind through the trees.. Area was getting colder and colder as we were heading close to the North ....
Inside, Luna sat beside Isabella, her small hands folded neatly in her lap...
She had not spoken much since leaving the Count's estate, but her eyes watchful, missed nothing.
Isabella, draped in a velvet cloak the color of night, finally turned to her.
"You're a quiet one," she remarked, her voice smooth, yet edged with calculation. "That's good. Listen more than you speak...
that's how people survive in this world."
Luna's gaze met hers. In those young eyes, Isabella saw something unusual
too much calm, too much understanding. Luna, though only nine in body, held herself with a stillness that did not belong to children. A quiet intelligence, like a candle burning behind her stare.
"I don't mind silence," Luna replied, her voice soft but measured. "It helps me think."
Isabella tilted her head, a glimmer of intrigue in her eyes. "Good. You'll need your wits where we're going."
The carriage took them north...
past valleys dusted with snow and forests cloaked in ancient pines....
until, finally, it came to a halt near a grand estate nestled beneath stormy skies.
The mansion stood tall, cold, and proud: the residence of the Duke of the North....However
Isabella didn't go there , she first took me to a small house ....
For three weeks, Isabella kept Luna close, feeding her, dressing her in fine clothes, teaching her how to walk, speak, and smile like a noble girl....
All the while, Luna observed, learned, and stored everything away—each glance, each whisper, each locked door....
Then one evening, Isabella sat besides her ...
"It's time," she said. "From now on, you are my daughter. You'll speak when spoken to, act with grace, and do nothing to disgrace my name. We are to stay near the Duke's household… and you will be seen."
Luna didn't move. "Why now?"
Isabella studied her. "Because my husband is dead. And because the Duke of the North—" her voice dropped lower, a trace of satisfaction threading through it, "—is mine."
Luna's brows lifted, the candlelight casting her face in quiet shadow.
"She was weak," Isabella said coolly, referring to the Duchess. "Couldn't handle betrayal. One gasp, one stumble, and she was gone. Left behind a son. Just seven. A boy barely two years younger than you."
"Does the Duke know?" Luna asked.
Isabella smiled coldly. "He knows what he wants to know."
She stood and approached Luna, kneeling so they were eye level. Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"You're going to be perfect, my dear. And if you're clever...if you do exactly as I say—you'll never have to fear the chains of poverty again. Understand?"
[Hmmm brainwashing, wouldn't work on me ]
Countinues to nod ...
Luna nodded, slowly. But deep inside, something stirred.....a thought, a memory....