"My Lord, perhaps we should delay the process and return to the estate if you are not feeling well?" The butler, Richmond stood in front of her.

"...I'm fine. Please get me something to drink..." Hera rubbed her head.

"Yes, sir." Richmond left.

'How on earth did this happen...?'

Sirin laid her back on the sofa, staring at the magnificent design of the ceiling in the guest suite.

Herald Maverick was the current head of Maverick Countdom. Just a couple of month ago *he* received the imperial edict to be the new head of Maverick.

Sirin sighed.

'He' my ass...

Herald...No, Herayn was one of the daughters of the previous Maverick Head.

Sofen Maverick had three wives and many children. Herayn was the only daughter of his third wife. She was neglected by her father after her mother passed away a few days after giving birth to her. Before passing away, she gave Herayn to the butler, Richmond, to be raise as a boy for her safety.

Richmond was taken in by her mother's family and was a trained butler since young. He took Herayn in as his master's last will before she passed away due to excessive internal bleeding.

Herayn was raised as a normal boy outside the estate until the incident that awaken her innate power caught the Count and the King's interest, thus, naming her as the heir at the age of 10 without knowing her real gender.

However, a war broke out a year later. All manpower including young nobles and commoners age 15 years old and higher were dragged to the South war that prolonged for almost five years.

Sirin lifted her hand.

Unbelieveable...

'I thought Herald is a man...Let's recollect the information first...'

After her headache subsided, everything came into her mind. Her childhood, her dark past in the countdom, her father's glare...

"Did I...die on the bus?"

It couldn't be. Her headache started a couple of days ago until she got high fever that lasted yesterday. Then, she seem to recall everything about her other life... Either she was Herayn with Sirin's memories or she was Sirin with Herayn memories, she was still in confusion.

She read a novel titled, 'The darkside of a hidden flower'. It was a popular novel that she bought coin to read online. Due to limited coin, she could only read one story at a time. That novel was on her list almost a year ago. The novel was completed just a few months ago with many chapters but she had to buy coins to read after three free chapters. The story progressed to a dark grim by chapter 3 which made her angry. She only had enough coin to read one more chapter before she can bought more coins from her next month salary.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Her impatient after wondering about the story made her open the middle of the accumulated chapters to see any progress before deciding either to continue or to drop such high rating story. She was angry after she thought that Herald and Halcion were a pair of male lovers.

Sirin sighed again.

'I kinda regret for not reading properly... Aside from Herald being a young count with a powerful healing magic, I knew nothing about her past. Not to mention, I knew so little about Halcion Elram.

"Today is that day...that I suppose to meet Halcion for the first time, right?" She was a little nervous.

Hera sat up when Richmond knock on the door and brought in a tray of refreshment.

"My Lord, his grace, the young duke is already in the meeting room."

Richmond poured her a cup of tea.

Hera sipped from the cup. A refreshing taste calmed her nerve.

"Remind me again, who am I and why am I here..."

Richmond bowed. "Master is the Lord of Maverick Countdom. The late count and the late Duke were good friends. They made a written promise before going to the war that if either one them had fallen, the authority to be the acting head will fall to another until a new head was appointed. Since you become the new count, the king, who hold onto the agreement gave his verdict for you to take in the young and only heir to Elram dukedom to be groom in Countdom until his coming of age at seventeen years old."

"...Why didn't the King take in the child? Isn't he of royal bloodline too?"

"Aside from the crown prince, other princes can't stay within the palace ground to avoid inner power struggle. Although Elram duchy was a relatives of the royalty, for generations, they holds the key to the imperial army power. Currently, without the head, the chief commander took place to command the royal army. However, the one who can empower and blessed the sword with mana is only from Elram's bloodline."

Hera shut her eyes. Her head throbbed.

Richmond approached her, "Excuse me, master." He took off his gloves and placed his palm on her forehead.

"You're still burning with fever..."

Hera opened her eyes. "I'll be fine after i get some sleep later."

"Master... Is it because..." Richmond lowered his voice, "that time of the month?"

Hera turned away. She couldn't hide anything from him. Although she was raised under his care, after remembering herself as Sirin, it felt embarrased to be remind of such thing.

"L-Let's not make his grace wait." Hera stood and headed out of the room while being closely followed by Richmond.

'Halcion is 5 years younger than Herald. Since I'm 15 years old, he should be 10 right now.'

They stopped in front of a huge door.

Richmond knock a couple of times.

"Come in." A voice said from the other side of that door.

Richmond opened the door and let her entered.

The hall was huge with an oval table in the center while being surrounded with tall windows on the left and right.

There was a tall man in a military uniform stood near the seat in front of a study table. He gave a light nod and turned towards a book shelf beside the study table.

"Young master, the count of Maverick is here."

Hera stopped and turned to see a small figure sitting on the floor, hidden by a huge vase beside the shelf.

The boy stood up and turned towards her.

She was surprised.

Unlike the description about Halcion in the novel, the real one was an angel.

His ashen grey eyes hidden behind the slightly long bang sharply glared at her. His soft and pinkish hair looked like a silk cotton on his ivory skin.

He grumbled.

Hera flinched and realized she stared too much.

"Forgive me, your grace. I'm Herald Maverick."

"...Humph!" The boy crossed his arms, turning away sharply.

'What a cute kid...'

"His majesty already instructed me about everything regarding his education and his stay in your estate." The man in military uniform spoke as he handed a document in a sealed envelope to Richmond.

"I understand." She turned towards the boy again.

The man in military uniform walked towards him and knelt in front of him. "Young master, I can't stay beside you anymore. You can trust Lord Herald and treat him like an older brother."

Halcion gave a sullen look. "Must you leave?"

"Someday, when you took the reign of a new commander for the army, if I'm still alive, I will be under your command for sure."

Halcion nodded weakly.

The man in millitary uniform held the boy's hand, bringing him towards her. "I'll leave him in your care."

Hera nodded as she took Halcion's hand.