The steps were growing nearer and nearer.
{Gotta think...gotta think. The last memory Charlotte had before going to bed hungry last night was that she and her sibling were going to the prince's birthday today. This would be where the original Charlotte put the first prince in her sights.}
What my aunt doesn't know was that my father had a really dear friendship with the king. When Charlotte was a baby the king and queen promised her they would look out for her. I bet the real Charlotte doesn't even remember. She must have been only one year of age by then.
{Okay. I have leverage. Let those rancid bitches come. I'm snitching!}. Just as I thought that the door bursts open and five women walk in in single file and spread out to block the door and also the only source of light in the room. The suddenness of brightness hurts my eyes and forces me look away at the floor. "Oh my dear niece. It's time for you to get ready to meet royalty today. And you must make a perfect impression. It seems I must come get you personally since you've given Stephanie here such a hard time. Even if today is a big day you must know your place." Sneered my aunt Aster.
Since I'm now Charlotte, that makes this monster my aunt now. She's a beautiful woman, big blue green eyes that match my fathers, blue black hair and flawless mocha skin with a bombshell curvaceous body. Although underneath that she is the cruelest bitch ever to walk the earth. In the future, if I don't change things she'll inflict countless abuses on Charlotte aka me and her twin siblings and will drive me into madness, especially if I don't somehow get engaged to the prince. And I'd rather die than be anything to that prince. If you met him, you'd think the same *shudder*.
Charlotte's only been here for 6 months and she'd already been starved, beaten, worked to the bone under the impression that if she did all that her sibling would be treated nicely. She only gets to see them 2 times a week to give her hope, and indeed that is what gave the original Charlotte her will to live and survive. I know different though. My new siblings, even though they're only 3 are being treated just as bad as me and I won't stand for it.
"You know what Aunt Aster." I say as I push my small malnourished six year old body to sit up. "What is it my dear niece?" She replied with clear annoyance. She doesn't like it when Charlotte talks to her, she prefers silent nods but even that would set off her sadistic nature. "You're a fucking ugly hag and I hope you burn in hell, but it already must be hell having saggy ass tiddies like those. Never mind your wrinkled face. Its no wonder uncle fucks all the maids like he does. I heard him and Stephanie in the room close to just the other…" At that Stephanie rushes me and kicks me in my side again.
I'm surprised I got half that out, I must have socked Aunt Aster still cause she has that dumb open mouth fish look on her flawless face. I curl myself in a ball and place my hands over my neck to protect my head and face. Stephanie gets off two more kicks to my body, I think she's being actually careful even in her rage to not hit me in a place the dress will not cover before my aunt snapped out her her trance. "Maids grab her and lock her in the yard!!". The yard being like a public stockade in the back of the mansion, Charlotte's been there quite a few times already and just thinking about it is enough to make me want to cower.
The other three maid quickly grab her and drag her out, one of 'em even has her by the hair. I guess she hadn't been nice to her fellow maids. She probably got a big head ever since shes been fucking the master. With that I'm alone with my aunt. Clutching my aching side, I've taken worse beatings and I know how to distance myself from the pain but this six year old body isn't tough by any means and this shit fucking hurts, and it's only to get worse. I heard only the heeled footsteps of my aunt drawing closer over my rough breathing.
"Dear neeeiiice. Where did you learn those words." she draws out in her creepy sickly sweet voice. She was beyond pissed. "I*pant..pant* heard uncle saying that to Stephanie as he was doing things to her." Im sooo lying, well not about Uncle Noah and Stephanie, uncle likes to bring his sexcapeds on this side of the mansion since its been long abandoned except for me here but about the insults. If i'm going to get beat that bitch Stephanie is going under with me.
She comes over to me and picks me up from my thins nightdress collar "You mustn't EVER speak of me that way!" As she said it her face contorted into the most evil sneer, she threw me down to the ground with her full force. Pain radiates up my back as I land on it. " Let's have some fun before you meet the prince. Hmm?"
As the beatings began I tried to not show emotion as that would only encourage her. Let's go to my happy place. Saturday at the dojo, me and James had just started our training. He was struggling hard. I don't know how he stuck it out as long as he did. He doesn't even like fighting but he stayed with me and from white belt all the way to black belt. He only studied mixed martial arts with me though. He didn't join me for the krav maga or the muay tai but he watched my practices.
I could be thinking about all the thousand ways I COULD kick a certain persons' ass but I'm not thinking about them right now. Thinking about my time with James, peaceful spending time with my dad on his days off, and college parties. Time flew by and my aunt soon grew tired of my seemingly lifeless body. She left me to go torture the maid I threw under the bus instead.
Next thing I know I'm being carried by maids and thrown in a scalding hot bathtub filled with scented oils and bath salts. I flinch as the water touches my skin. The salts and oils make the kinds and bruises on my body sting. She really did a number on my body. My legs, stomach arms and back are covered with fresh welts and bruises. Not to mention the older bruises that had not yet healed, she made sure not to hit hard enough to disfigure me, or else finding a wealthy husband would be difficult. Clever bitch.
The maids massage my legs with healing ointments and low quality healing potions so I'd be able to walk without showing my injuries but not enough to heal me properly. There's magic here but people who have a lot of mana don't become maids. They could hire a healing mage but this is all they're willing to do for me. Later on when Charlotte enters the magic academy at 12 and learns magic, she'd then heal herself every night.
They dressed me in a floor length dress and combed my hair in a half up ponytail and left two strands of hair side parted at my right temple to frame my face. They walked me to the mirror and I finally got to see how I look.
Dude I'm seriously cute. Light brown skin although a little pasty looking due to malnutrition and lack of sunlight. Cute small button nose almost like a who but y'know cute and not pointy, big purple eyes and long curly black hair reaching down to my waist. The dress they put me in a floor length purple dress that matched my eyes with long flowy sleeves that cover most of my hands. It's beautiful and most disappointingly covers every one of my bruises. They then at me down and applied makeup to cover up my horrible pallor. They are very thorough.
They then walk me to a room on the opposite side of the mansion where the family actually lives. We arrive at a large sitting room, where my aunt, uncle cousin sitting on an exquisite looking couch and on the opposite couch are my two siblings Callumn and Magnolia sitting very still with their hands in their laps. I hope they haven't been hurt or something they're only three. Thinking of them hurt in burn with rage internally while keeping my face as impassive as possible.
"Greetings Aunt Aster and Uncle Noah. I apologies for keeping you waiting." I say to the room and execute my most perfect curtsy. I don't know how to curtsy but Charlotte's memories help with that. Even at six she's had all manners of etiquette literally beaten into her body. At that the whole room turns at my entrance. Aunt Aster looks at me with mild annoyance and my cousin Kathrine who is the exact copy of her mother except for having the same color scheme as her father looks on with disgust.
"That is fine. You need to look your best to His Majesty tonight. You must make your best impression tonight." My uncle Noah emphasized giving me a sleazy grin. He was a handsome man, but nothing to look twice at. He's only related to me by marriage. With blonde hair, fair skin and green eyes. His square jaw and straight nose has drawn the eye of many ladies and he prefers it that way since he'd take them all to bed if he could.
As I rise up from my curtsy I head over to my twin siblings. I try to check them out as nondescript as possible as I sit next to them to check for wounds or anything but like me they all must be covered. They watch me as well, I feel like they're doing the same, my poor smart babies. I can't go rushing over to them to hug and kiss and tell them everything is going to be alright like I want to. Not with THEM there.
I just can't help but notice how adorable my siblings are. They are just the cutest. Even though they are fraternal twins they look almost identical, both having blue green eyes like our father, the reddish brown hair of our mother and the same cute button nose that I have. The only difference is that Callumn has a mole under his left eye and Magnolia has a mole under her right. They're even matching, with Magnolia in a cute fluffy blue dress like her eyes and Callumn in a black little dandy suit with blue accents matching Magnolia. They looked like perfect porcelain dolls. But it's weird to see a 3 year old so still, they're supposed to be little balls of chaotic energy but my babies here don't have that life spark that's usually in toddlers. That pains my heart so much. My "aunt" and "uncle" aren't even human.
Looking down on us from the other couch my aunt looks us over and nods satisfactory. " You all will behave. Any embarrassment will not be tolerated. You will show the crown how grateful you are for our sacrifice in taking you in and caring for you lot." She says her voice like iron, I can practically feel the punishment she has in mind if I were to do anything out of step. My uncle next to her nods and gives us a bone chilling glare, from memory his beating is much worse than aunts. And from the games flashback as I grow older it would continue to get pretty almost rapey, driving Charlotte to the crown prince with even more desperation. He's a sick bastard.
I grab the twins' hands and we make our way to the carriage. I straighten my back as we reach the door. Put on my bravest face. It's time for war. Pay back time, not just for what happened to me today, for the twins and for what the real Charlotte went through and would have continued to go through.