Dria was sitting inside a carriage that was taking her to the North with the Knights of Castevés on horses following behind, in front, and on the sides. She didn't bring a lot of stuff since she didn't have much. In her small bag that she had, there was only her mother's comb and earring. The only clothes she had was the one she was wearing, which belonged to Ivy. The family didn't want to send her in her raggedy dress, which would give right away that she was the wrong girl. She was also wearing a hat with black veil that was covering her face. They were on the road for days and had to take camp some of the days.

"My lady, we are close," One of the knights that were riding on the sides informed her.

"Okay," She replied, holding her small bag tightly. After a few minutes, the same knight talked again.

"My lady, we are here. You may step out," the knight informed again. He opened the door to the carriage and held his hand out for her to grab, which she did as she got dropped from the carriage. Then, she let his hand go. She was freezing when she stepped out of the carriage since she didn't have any coat. They know the Northern Empire was a cold place during this time of year and they didn't give her a coat.

"If you can follow me," the knight said, walking hopping Dria was following. They walked inside the mansion, continued walking, passing all the maids until they got a room. Dria was happy once they got inside. The knight knocked on the door.

"My lord, lady La'more is here," he said.

"Let her in," they heard from the inside. The knight opened the door and gestured for Dria to go in. Dria walked inside and the knight closed the door. She stood by the door, looking down, not knowing what to do

"Don't just stand there, come here," the Duke ordered. She flinched a little, hoping no one noticed, but the Duke noticed. He was shocked.

"Is she afraid of me?" He thought.

She looked up to see two ladies and two men in the room. The two women were sitting on the couch. One was younger and the other was older. They looked like a mother and daughter. The men were standing by the desk next to the window. One of them was an old man. She assumed the other one was the Duke. She walked to him.

"She's not much to look at," she heard one of the ladies say as she was walking by them. She stopped and stood next to the Duke.

"I need you two to sign these two marriage certificates. One, I will take, while the other, you kept," the old man instructed, pointing to two papers on the desk in front of them. Duke Castevés picked up the pen and signed his name on both documents, before handing the pen to Dria, who took it.

"Should I really do this? It may be better than going back and being killed. Then again, I might be killed here as well. I will still take my chances here rather than there," She thought. Then, she signed her name on both documents, not realizing she wrote her name inside Ivy's. She placed the pen down on the desk, before standing straight back up. She heard gasps around her and looked down to see.

Alexandria Ruby La'more

"Oh, no, I wrote my name instead of Ivy's," She thought as she looked up at the Duke in panic and he looked furious, making her panic more. He turned towards and stepped closer. In a panic, she stepped back. He grabbed her arm, making her groan since he was pressing a wound on her arm, but he ignored that. He took her hat off to see a different girl than that entitled lady. He let go of her. Dria dropped to the floor.

"They sent the wrong girl!" He shouted furiously. Then, he looked at Dria, who was looking down.

"Who are you?"

"I'm sorry. I had no choice; they sent me, a mere servant instead," Dria apologized, hoping she wouldn't get killed. She was trying hard not to cry.

"You are not a mere servant if your last name is La'more. I'm going to ask you again. Who are you?" He asked again.

"I'm Alexandria Ruby La'more, the daughter of Felix La'more, the previous Duke," She answered nervously.

"Alexandria Ruby La'more. Where have I heard that name?" he thought.

Flashback

A seven year old little duke was in the training ground at the Castevés residence. He was practicing his swordsmanship. When he stopped to take a break, he heard clapping. He turned around to see a little girl no older than 4 years old, clapping near the entrance. She started to walk towards him,

"You are really good."

"Thanks. Who are you?"

"I'm Alexandria Ruby La'more," She introduced, bowing a little, " What's your name?" She was now standing in front of him.

"Oh, she's Duke La'more's daughter," He thought, then, replied,

"I'm Vincent Casteves."

"Vincent, can I call you Vince? You can call me Dria. Do you want to be friends since our fathers are friends?" She asked, excitedly. She was too happy and bubbly for Vincent's liking, but he didn't want to be rude and make her cry and break the bond between his father and the Duke of Western.

"Sure," He said back, stepping back a little since she was all in his place.

"Yea, how can I touch and hold your sword?" She asked excitedly.

"And be blamed for your injuries. I don't think so, you can have a wooden sword," He replied, gesturing for his trainer to get a wooden sword, who did and handed it to him. He took and handed it to Dria.

"You are no fun," She said, pouting and taking the wooden sword.

"Cute," He thought, slightly smiling, before recomposing himself.

"If I'm no fun then, I guess you don't want to learn some moves," He said back, jokingly.

"What I meant to say was that you are fun. You are the funniest person in the world," She praised, "Now, teach me some moves." He shook his head at her with a slight smile, before teaching her some moves.

End of Flashback

"Oh, she is that happy and bubbly girl I met 13 years ago, but she's not that bubbly anymore. I wonder what happened to her? I will find that out later, right now, that's focus on this situation," He thought, before signing. He decided to let this situation go since he didn't even want to marry that entitled lady La'more anyways. Besides, the king just wanted him married and have a wife.

"I will let this go. You will just have to do it. The King just wanted me married. He doesn't care  who I married," Vincent replied as he nodded at the old man. The old man took one of the certificates, leaving the other on the table, before making his way out the room.

"Vincent, we can't let this go. They are making a mockery of the Casteves family," The old lady said, standing up from the couch.

"Mom, let's not start a war over this and just let it go," Vincent replied, giving his mother a look.

"Fine," She signed, but wasn't happy. She didn't want her stepson to marry any other lady, but her goddaughter. She wanted full control over the house, which she had now, but now that he was married to another, she won't anymore. If her goddaughter was the duchess, she would still control the house through her. The mother and goddaughter left the room, leaving Vincent and Dria alone. Vincent looked at Dria still on the ground, not looking up.

"Are you going to keep sitting on the ground?" He asked her. She quickly got up, fixing her dress, but still looking at the ground.

"Let me ask you this, why do you call yourself a mere servant?" He continued.

"Because that's what I am in the Western Empire," She answered simply, not telling him anymore than that, which he noticed. He also noticed that she still didn't look up at him.

"Liliana!" He called. A maid came into the room.

"Yes, my lord," She replied. He noticed that Dria looked up when she heard Liliana's voice. He saw her whisper something that sounded like,

"Lily?"

"Please, take Lady La'more and have her get situated," He ordered. Liliana looked at Dria when she heard Lady La'more only to be shocked to see who she thought it was.

"Dria," She said, before running to her, hugging her a hug.

"Lily," Dria cried, tears running down her face as she returned the hug, "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too. I'm so glad you are okay," Lily replied as cried as well.

"They know each other?" Vincent thought as he watched the happy reunion.

~Timeskip~

Dria and Lily were in a bedroom, sitting and talking, getting caught up after all those years separated after Lily helped her bath and wore the same dress again since Dria didn't have any other clothes.

"What happened after all those years?" Lily asked as she noticed the bruises on her body.

"Well, I was treated like a servant. Every mistake resulted in a punishment, such as a slap. The ma'dam would cut off my hair every time it grew because Ivy didn't like my hair long since she was jealous or whatever. What was worse was that the maids treated me the worst. They make me do all their jobs and don't share the food with me. Majority of my bruises came from them. They would push and shave me and would step on my leg and arm purposefully," Dria explained, "Ivy was supposed to be the one marrying Duke Casteves not me, but since she didn't want to marry him, they sent me in her place."

"I'm sorry all that happened to you, sweetie. I wished I was there for you," Lily replied, "But, it's good that you married the Duke instead of her because you would be treated better here."

"It's okay, you were fired. I doubt I will be treated better here. The Duke doesn't seem like me. What's worse is his mother doesn't like me," Dria said back and asked, "I see that you had a better life after they fired you, for no reason might I add. I'm glad you had a happy life."

"You will trust me. The Duke is nothing like the rumors about him. Forget about his mother, who is his stepmother, she doesn't like anyone," Lily assured, "Yes, after I went home to the south, I worked in my parents restaurant before a job was posted about maids wanted in the north. I want the job and here I am." She wanted to tell her that she met the Duke before, but decided against it.

"We're destined to always be together," Dria said jokingly, smiling, making Lily nod and laugh. They continued talking.

Nighttime

Lily got Dria ready for bed. Since Dria didn't have any nightgown, she had her wear the late duchess's, Vincent's real mother.

"Is he not going to sleep?" Dria asked as she laid on one side of  the bed.

"No, The Duke tends to sleep later in the night, but I think tonight he will sleep in his study room to give you some space," Lily answered.

"But, there's only a couch in there from what I saw. It's uncomfortable sleeping on a couch. The bed is big enough for two people, just tell him, he can sleep on the bed," Dria replied.

"I will, but I don't guarantee he will come," Lily said back, "You get some sleep." Dria nodded.

"Goodnight, Lily," She said.

"Goodnight, Dria," Lily replied, before turning off the light and leaving. As she turned to walk away, she saw the Duke standing there, making her flinch in freight.

"My lord," She greeted with a bow.

"Liliana, come with me, I need to ask you a couple of questions regarding Lady La'more," He ordered. Lily nodded and followed the Duke as he walked to his study room. Once inside he gestured for her to take a seat on the couch, while he sat opposite of her.

"What do you want to know about the lady?" Lily asked.

"Can you tell how her life was at Western Empire?"

"Well, I don't know much since I got fired after the late Duke died because the new Duchess was getting rid of all the old maids, but what she told me, her life wasn't good. She was treated like a servant. Her every mistake resulted in a punishment, such as a slap. The ma'dam would cut off her hair every time it grew because Ivy, the one you were supposed to marry, didn't like her hair long because it was too pretty and she was jealous. What was worse was that the maids treated her  the worst. They make her do all their jobs and don't share the food with her, which means she is probably malnourished. Majority of her bruises on her body came from them. They would push and shave her and would step on her leg and arm purposefully," Lily explained. Vincent let all of that soak in.

"So, with her you want to take things slow and show her she won't be treated like she was back home," Lily continued, she knows that he liked Dria a little since he met her 13 years ago.

"I don't like her," he said quickly.

"Yes, you do, you met her before, didn't you."

"Yes, 13 years ago. How do you know?"

"Well, because I was the maid with her all those years ago, which was when you slightly grew fond of her."

"You're right, where should I start?" He asked.

"First, You need to buy her some clothes and always talk slowly and gently with her," Lily instructed him. He nodded.

"Thank you, Liliana. I'm sorry for taking some of your night away," He replied.

"Your welcome and it's okay," Lily said back, standing up and walking to the door, "One more thing, she said to come sleep on the bed. Goodnight, my lord." She left after saying that. After she left, Vincent reviewed some documents before calling it a night. He walked to the bedroom and opened it slowly. He walked in and closed the door slowly, trying not to wake her up. He walked to the bathroom and got ready for bed, before walking up and getting in. He saw her wake up, and she was searching for some as she was tapping the bed, before she touched him. She rolled over to his side, wrapped her arms around him, and laid her head on his chest, before signing and going back to sleep. He was shocked. Then, he wrapped his arms around. They went to sleep like that.