'How strange,' Illyn thought as she lay on the floor around a puddle of her own blood.
'Was death supposed to hurt this much?'
Illyn Heathsbarrow was the eldest daughter of Count Heathsbarrow in the country of Remaya. Her father hated her due to her uncanny resemblance to her diseased mother.
If Illyn had to say, her parents were the epitome of a political marriage. There was no love lost between Illyn's parents, everything was a political decision made by their families, even Illyn's birth. From the moment Illyn was born with her dark locks that resembled the night, and face that looked exactly like her mother, her father hated her.
Illyn grew up shunned and ostracised. Her mother, the only one that loved her, soon passed away from an illness that had left her weaker and weaker the previous years. Everything seemed so bleak. Her mother was gone. Her father couldn't care less whether she died or not. Moreover, her father even brought another woman home the moment her mother passed away. A pregnant woman.
Her younger sister, Rosalia Heathsbarrow. The seed of that man and his lover. Illyn refuses to acknowledge them as her family. Not as long as she lives.
Ahhh, Rosalia. So beautiful with her blond hair that she took from their father, and how happy she is to grow up with 2 parents that loves and dotes on her.
'She must have been blessed by the gods.' Illyn thought while looking at the three having a happy meal in the garden from her secluded room, far far away from everyone. 'What is it like to eat with someone else?' She soon got rid of that thought and went back to sleep.
'Maybe when I wake up, I would find that this is all a dream. Mother is alive, Rosalia was never born, I had a loving family.'
"Intruder alert! Intruder in the house!"
A loud noise woke Illyn up as she looked out the window. Guards and the maids were running around in their noisy, heeled shoes, trying to find the intruder. Illyn did not give a tinker's damn and went back to sleep.
'Maybe I will die this time and I get to haunt this family for the rest of my life.' Illyn thought grimly as she drifted back to sleep, pretending she did not notice that no one bothered to inform her or even try to protect her from this intruder.
Just as Illyn's mind found the desire to sleep again, a figure appeared at her window and used his hand to cover her mouth.
"Shhh," he whispered into her ear.
Illyn couldn't believe it. Did the intruder just come into her room?! But what can she do, she's not 'indebted' to the Heathsbarrow house for anything so she was not very willing to help catch this intruder (yeah, she was petty like that), but this intruder was also seemingly holding her hostage and putting her in a very dangerous situation.
Haishh. Illyn was just about to decide what to do in this situation when her door burst open and 5 guards came in armed to the teeth, with her accursed father following behind them.