How did this happen?
Lucia wiped the mud off her hands. The murky brown substance stained her clothes as she dried her hands on her skirt. As she stood up, she could almost hear the laughter of her sister's friends echoing from inside the manor.
Lucia sighed.
The only thing she had done was dodge the push her sister was about to give her that would have sent Lucia soaring into the fountain, giving her a good soak. Maybe it was better to let Elliot push her into the fountain and let her friends snicker behind her back since after Lucia dodged her, Elliot was the one to fall in the fountain. Not only was she angry, all of her friends were furious. A muscular boy named Kieran picked her up by the collar of her shirt and threw her in a pile of mud that got all over her clothes. Now that Lucia was in such an amusing state, they all could finally laugh and point their fingers at her with ease. Without looking back, they helped Elliot out of the fountain and walked away, chattering noisily.
The garden in the Viscount's Mansion was now empty except for her.
Lucia was never the loved one. Her parents despised her and her sister bullied Lucia everyday. Not because of her amazing intelligence of psychology and the incredible arts she made with her body such as dancing (which neither Elliot had), but simply because of her hair color. Lucia was not the Valencia family's original daughter, she was adopted.
Lucia Valencia- originally Lucia Morrison -was a sixteen-year old, adopted daughter of the Valencia family. The Viscount, Laurence Remus Valencia, saw a good potential in her and decided to buy her at the Orphan Auction. She was smart, but revealed under a wig that she had black hair. Black hair was a sign that you were a commoner for it was a dull color and most people had it. When you become a noble appointed by the royal, he or she will call over a magician to change their hair color to the color the royal wanted. If you had black or brown hair, you would most likely be a commoner unless you have at least a streak of a different color. Lucia's black hair was permanent- no magician could change it or at least add a bit of color. To add more, Lucia's eyes were white, making it blend in with her pale skin. White eyes meant blindness, but some people, like Lucia, could see with white eyes, although she would be called a variety of names because of that.. Her hair was so disgusting for the family of Valencia (since it was a house that loved status and money over anything else) that almost no one even lifted a finger to love Lucia. It was shameful to love people born with abnormality as well as common ones. Because of this, Lucia used her intelligence to have bits of revenge on them. She always talked back so perfectly, that nobody could say anything back to her. The Viscount wanted to sell her back to the Auction, but he had to pay a fortune in order to do that and it was against the law of the Ramos Empire to abandon children. But Viscount Valentcia did have some ideas to make use of Lucia's intelligence for the growth of the House.
Lucia already knew that they were planning to kill her and throw her body in the ocean every month, but they all failed thanks to her secret subordinates or colleagues hidden inside the mansion. The maids of the manor; Clementine, Natilia, Averi, and Rosemary, the chefs; Forestia, Abram, and Griffin, some knights; Kendall, Grayson, and the Butler: Roland. They informed her with secret signals that only they could understand. They were all the people who pitied Lucia and understood that she was suffering. Lucia was exceptionally close to Rosemary because she looked over Lucia when nobody else did. She was like a second mother to Lucia. There used to be more people, but as Elliot started to punish those who helped Lucia, many people left her side. Elliot slapped and whipped the maid that dressed her- starved them if she was in a bad mood.
One time, it had gone too far.
Elliot threw the dresses that were prepared for Lucia into a lake, and shoved Lucia into a rose bush. A maid named Crystal had retrieved the dresses and treated the cuts on Lucia's arms and legs. While she was sneaking food for Lucia to eat (since the people there would feed her rotten bread or nothing most of the time although the chefs and maids usually snuck her something) she was caught by Elliot's maid, Greutrude. That night, Crystal had been whipped to death for aiding her. Holding onto Crystal's body, Lucia cried all night and sent her maids off; begging them to go before it was too late. Many obeyed her order and stopped attending Lucia. But many of them still held on. Especially a chef named Dorian. He held onto her like he was a newborn grabbing onto anything he could in order to stay alive.
"I believe, Lady Lucia," he would say. "I believe that the house of Valencia can be a better house if you are the Viscountess. That is all I believe, my Lady."
The next day he would be executed because of Elliot's accusation of treason. One of Elliot's maids would have overheard those words and reported it; it was only a matter of time.
The Empire of Ramos was named after the god, Ramoses. Many of the people believed that it was Ramoses who created the earth. There in the center, there is a land of neutrality named Zara. That is where the Emperor of Ramos rules. There are many rumors that the Emperor had been blessed by god so that he became immortal. That rumor became more plausible as the Emperor lengthened his reign as he lengthened his life too. The land of Ramos was split into three countries; Quacia, Alexis, and Harlan. Quacia, the land that Lucia was currently living in, was filled with magicians and priests as the people here signified purity or the ability to handle magic. The land of Quacia is quite strict on traditions such as swordsmanship or enthroning. Alexis, the second country, focuses on the advancement of the society and creates new inventions and arts that need to be shared with the world.. Many of the inventions have been imported to the other country as well. Last but definitely not least, Harlan. Harlan is a country where people are talented in healing and herbs. Many of the medicines are imported from Harlan, but also many poisons are imported although the King of Harlan did make it illegal temporarily. It was hard to understand status (Emperor, King, Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, and Baron), and there were people who abused the use of their rank, such as the Viscount and the Viscountess of Valencia.
The Viscount and Viscountess were ruthless people. Unlike Elliot, who likes to enjoy the desperate pleas of the victims, they kill and punish people without even batting an eyelash. Lucia was once whipped thirty times because she was unable to brew tea properly. After the Viscount and Viscountess started giving out these harsh punishments, Lucia stopped talking back- afraid that the consequences would all be laid onto her colleagues- and began to take in anything that her sister did to her. Whether it was whipping, humiliation, or calling her names. Even though Elliot was just one year older than Lucia, she acted just like her parents. Since Viscount Valencia didn't want to ruin the reputation of the house, he never let her go to any social gatherings or at least let her have a few maid to tend her. He managed to keep Elliot from hurting Lucia's maid no more after he saw that the scars from the whipping became a bit more visible. Although society did know her existence, the rumors said that she was always sick and could never meet anyone outside her family and servants. She had white eyes and black hair- nothing could stop that. Lucia was forced to wear a wig and contacts 24/7 so that they didn't feel ashamed all the time.
What's the meaning of life when you're getting this kind of treatment everyday, knowing that you might get poisoned to death one day, Lucia asked herself.
How about we escape? No, I'll be caught far too early to do anything else.
Then what would I do if I was free?
Free? Lucia chuckled blankly.
That's funny.
Well, Lucia had one dream to follow; a priest. She could remember her, although the memory is hazy since it happened whe Lucia was a baby, a saint-like woman who had bent down, purified her body, and placed her on the doorstep of the Orphan Auction. The nanny was kind, but the owners had to strip them away from her as they got old enough to get sold. She was young, but yet her emotions did not show that much. Lucia was already used to whipping when she came to the Viscount's Mansion. That was how she had survived all along. Priests were never looked down and instead were respected as holy beings. If someone offended a priest, they would all get punished. The way of punishment or if the man would be either punished at all would depend on the priest's opinion. A priest was supposed to be hard work too. You have to be pure most of the time and they have a special day called the Katharos Day also known as the Purest day on earth. The people don't do anything but stay home and eat, sleep, and pray that day. Whoever does any rash things will be punished severely. The priests will stay in the temple and purify themselves completely. If they can stay alive after one day with food or water in the temple, they are blessed and given the task to take care of the people. The job of the priest was quite troublesome- you were going to get killed if you do not qualify.
Still, it's better than getting trampled over by Elliot.
Elliot's pride was grown from the care of her parents and the respectable talent of magic she had. In this country, magic was almost everything other than the temple. The Viscount and the Viscountess were also talented in magic, so Elliot took after them. There was a magical contest every year that Elliot attends called the Major Magic Tournament. Starting from the age of ten, you are allowed to enter the tournament from a ratio of 200 to 1. She won every year since she started so many people thought highly of her abilities since people all over from the Empire came to compete. On the other hand, Lucia had never performed magic. There were many magic spells that the king had banned so that anyone who performs them will be executed, such as rising people from the dead- it was a spell that sacrificed one's life for a different soul to come back to earth. Since Lucia was typically useless on the magical side, she was bullied like this and called a Zyon which are people who cannot use magic.
Now Rosemary's going to-
"My Lady! What happened to you?" The maid ran over to her with a concerned look on her face. She had creamy milk hair with yellow eyes; if she had worn proper clothes and had proper skin treatment, she would have looked like a noblewoman.
"I'm fine, Rosemary-"
"No, you are not fine. Let's go back to your room. You'll be dried up and dressed in a blink of an eye. Young Lady, we'll have a talk about this." Lucia smiled at Rosemary with a sad expression.
"Rosemary, if I were on the brink of death, please kill me." Rosemary gasped.
"My Lady! How can you ask your servant to do such things?"
"Elliot is cruel, so she is willing to step on me until I die."
"Lady Lucia, you shouldn't speak those words out loud! If Miss Elliot tries to kill you, she would have to kill me first." Lucia stood silently as Rosemary wrapped her in towels.
"Thank you, Rosemary, for everything you've done for me."
"No need to say that, my Lady. You are my master, and this servant will do anything and everything you ask- unless you want me to end your life; I swear upon the god of Ramoses that if I ever lift a knife up to your neck, I shall end myself first." She stopped talking and stood up.
"We're done now so let's go back to your room."
"Okay." Lucia and her maid walked back up the mansion's stairs.
After a nice bath, she dressed into comfortable clothes and sat on her bed. There weren't many things in her room for Elliot had taken most of them. It was small, but it still had a wardrobe, a bathroom, a bed, and a desk. For most, it looked like a hotel room although she had never been to one. A few dresses hung from the wardrobe and only a jar of ink and paper sat on her desk. Lucia twisted and turned the bracelet around her wrist. She had received it since birth and it grew in size as Lucia grew as well as if it was tampered by magic. It was made with jade; a shining blue dragon engraved on the outside. Lucia thought that it was given by the priest in her memories. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door of her room.
"You may come in." As the door opened, her butler, Roland, came in.
"My Lady, it's time for dinner."
"Will they make me eat with them today?"
"Yes, the Viscount and the Viscountess are very gracious today. They are allowing you to sit with them during dinner." The hint of sarcasm caused Lucia to let out a little chuckle, but her face soon darkened from the thought of sitting with her parents and Elliot at the dining table. Their cold stares burned onto her skin as she ate so she barely got to get a few bites before she could stop. Lucia aroused and carefully walked downstairs.
"Sit." Viscount Valencia said once she got down. Lucia gently sat in the cushion seat and began to nibble on the salad.
During the so-called meal, an unfamiliar servant came in with a letter from the Silver Holly Palace.
"'We sincerely invite all of your family to the Silver Holly Palace for the king's fiftieth birthday. Gifts are required. This letter is your ticket inside the Silver Holly Palace. The banquet will be held next week. We shall await your arrival, Viscount Valencia. Sincerely, the King of Quacia.' I'm sure you heard that, Lucia."
"Yes, my lord." She was unable to call him father because she was afraid that she would get beaten.
"'All of your family.' Since it is his majesty's command, there's no use for whining. I shall send you a dress for you to wear later."
"Thank you, my lord. I am finished with my meal. I shall be excused first."
"Very well." Lucia rose from her seat and walked out of the room.
The King of Quacia's banquet? What good is that? It's just another opportunity for my parents to beat me, Lucia thought. She walked up to the stairs and layed down on her bed.
I feel some kind of power emerging from me. What is it?
"My Lady?" Lucia jumped and backed away.
"Who are you?!"
"What do you mean, Lady Lucia? It's me, Clementine." But it wasn't Clementine she was seeing. Instead, Lucia saw the silhouette of her maid instead. It showed that she had a black soul, but a white core. Before she could speak again, the light disappeared and the orange-haired girl returned back to her normal self.
"My Lady?"
"How did you do that?"
"What do you mean, how, your beautifulness. Is there something wrong?"
"N-Nothing, Clementine." She was lying- how much it had scared her!
"Okay, if you insist." Lucia laid back onto her bed. Her heart was still pounding in her head.
It's weird. Why do all the bad things keep happening to her? She sat up.
Am I really just seeing things?
Lucia closed her eyes. "My Lady! You didn't even change yet!" Lucia looked at her longingly. "I'm tired, Clementine." She flinched. Clementine always had a soft side for her, other than Rosemary who was strict and stern, worried most of the time. She sighed.
"A-As you wish, my Lady."