Section 54: Hidden in Plain Sight (Part 2)

“Two years ago, no—perhaps even earlier; I don’t know the exact time. I don’t know when Father started feeling this way about me.” Cecily covered her face, tears slipping through her fingers as soft sobs mingled with painful memories.

“How could he do this?” Lady Seraphine kept repeating, her voice steeped in anguish no less than her daughter’s. “So this all happened after Amando left?”

“Yes.” Cecily whimpered like a wounded rabbit, her answer trembling with panic. “At first, I thought it was just Father’s care for me, but gradually I realized... I desperately tried to escape it. I couldn’t believe it was real, but Father was serious. I couldn’t avoid him or resist him. One day, he held me tightly, wouldn’t let me go. No matter how much I struggled, it was useless. He used his authority as a father to silence me. He kept kissing my ear, whispering how much he adored me...”

“Enough! Don’t say any more!” Lady Seraphine shouted, her chest heaving violently. She stared fiercely at her daughter, but after that furious outburst, she collapsed, deflated like a punctured balloon, her voice weak. “I’m sorry, Cecily.”

But Cecily seemed not to hear her mother’s apology. Struggling, she murmured the last part of her story. “At that time, I couldn’t tell if he loved me as his daughter or as a man loves a woman. Oh God, please forgive me—I am a sinner. Afterwards, I knew I had wronged everyone, especially you, Mother, and Amando. But still, I gave in to him again and again. I feared you would find out, and if I didn’t satisfy him, our family would fall apart. He promised me that as long as I stayed with him, he wouldn’t leave you. Our family would remain whole.”

Lady Seraphine suddenly pulled Cecily into her arms, their heads leaning together. Tears blossomed in Seraphine’s eyes as she gently stroked her daughter’s back, her voice choked with emotion. “Poor Cecily, this is not your fault. It’s mine—I should have noticed his abnormal behavior sooner and stopped him from hurting you. But it’s not too late now. Forget all this filth. I will take you far away from the man who does not deserve to be your father. We will return to Valencia. I know Amando still loves you. If you want to be with him, I will give up my old hopes of seeing you marry someone of high standing. I will bless your union and have him join us at sea—to the Far East, the island chains, or the New World. Anywhere, just far from here.”

“No!” Cecily trembled violently, as if fighting an intense internal battle. She lifted her beautiful face, filled with sorrow and grief, tears flowing like a gentle stream. “I can never be with him again. Mother, I am a woman who has lost her purity, a sinner who tempted her own father. If there truly is a hell as the Church says, I will surely go there. I cannot drag him down with me, not even while he is alive. If anyone finds out, he will never hold his head high again—being with a filthy woman like me.”

“Don’t say that. I know he won’t despise you,” Lady Seraphine comforted her daughter, though her own heart was in turmoil. “Even if you refuse to see Amando again, we must leave here, or sooner or later someone will find out. Amando’s...”

“Leave here? What nonsense! I won’t let Cecily leave my side!” an abrupt voice rang out from the edge of the forest.

Both Lady Seraphine and Cecily shuddered and turned to see a man, his face weary but eyes gleaming with excitement—her husband, Cecily’s father, Herr Hegel, chief weapons expert and special military advisor of the Comingnesen Revolutionary Army.

He strode forward in a single bound, snatching Cecily from Seraphine’s arms and positioning himself between them, voice furious. “Woman, why do you always oppose me? How many times have I told you not to mention that stinking little fishmonger in front of me and Cecily? He’s unworthy of my most precious daughter.”

Lady Seraphine screamed and lunged at him like a furious shrew, kicking and pounding, biting him even as he tried to restrain her madness.

“You’re insane!” Hegel roared, startled by the bite.

“She already knows.” Cecily whispered behind Hegel.

He stiffened instantly, as if struck by a petrifying spell, while Lady Seraphine ceased her assault, staring blankly at both him and her daughter.

A shaft of near-noon sunlight filtered through the treetops, illuminating the clearing and casting a stark light on Cecily’s bright face, now etched with terror.

“So you knew all along.” Hegel’s first words carried surprise and a trace of complexity. After speaking, he seemed to set down a great burden, his tone lightening somewhat. “Well, it’s better you know now; sooner or later, you would have. Cecily, I promised you before: as long as you don’t leave me, I won’t let this family fall apart. I will keep that promise. Now you can leave. The coachman is still waiting where before—he’s sharp and came straight to the camp the moment he realized you were missing, or else it would have been over. Hurry and leave—take the carriage; he’ll bring you back to the city. Leave this place to me. I will talk to her properly. Don’t worry, nothing will change. The three of us will remain as one family.”

“Shameless.” Lady Seraphine growled, raising her hand and slapping him sharply. But Hegel, prepared for this, caught her hand swiftly. He wasn’t angry; instead, he urged Cecily, “You’ve seen it—she’s so unsettled, yet I have not lost my temper. You can go back safely. I will have a proper talk with her.”

He released Lady Seraphine’s hand, looking at her without fear or shame. “You should convince her to return. Are you planning to have her stand here listening to us all day?”

“It’s all your fault, it’s you, this demon!” Lady Seraphine wept but acquiesced to the demon’s words. “Cecily, you go back first. I will talk to this demon. I won’t let him hurt you anymore.”

“All right, darling, you heard her—she wants you to go back.” Hegel spoke softly to Cecily.

Slowly, Cecily stepped backward, her eyes fixed on the two. Hegel and Seraphine had temporarily ceased their hostility, forcing smiles as if playing the part of a loving couple.

“Very well, I will go back. But you two—don’t hurt each other. It’s all my fault, all my fault!” Cecily covered her face and hurried out of the woods.