"I was told you refuse to attend the ball" Father asks frowning. He returned to the estate a couple of days ago after I got stuck in this body, and these were the first words he told me ever since.
The Earl of Lemeria is seated at the head of the table, tall, firmly built and stern; he almost gives off a retired officer vibes. On his right hand side is seated his young wife Rosa. A very dumb, greedy woman, they have not been together for long. On the left hand side from the father is placed Victoria's step brother Deckard. A haughty blond young man, the heir of the family and an outstanding student of the Magic Academy. He doesn't appear in the novel a lot. At some point he toys over Elisa and the other time he slaps Victoria. At least he is one of the few people who did not try to kill Victoria.
I take the seat one chair away from him.
The feeling of being an imposter never leaving me, thinking that magic or some fatherly heart thing will reveal me. Though, it seems like everyone couldn't care less about Victoria in this household. Wherever her face appears, servants frown and try to get away as soon as possible. At the same time the brother does everything it takes to ignore his sister and father does the same. Only Rosa occasionally sends her glances from across the table.
Athought, nothing to be surprised about here, because Victoria's birth was against the world's law. The Earl of Lemeria has cheated on his beloved wife, and after she found out she fell ill from the grief, that was the cause of her death.
Before passing she asked her spouse one last thing - to take care of her illegitimate daughter and never to abandon her.
The Earl of Lemeria fulfilled the last wish of his dying wife, however, when a five-year-old Victoria entered his property she was faced with contempt and nothing else. Every soul in the household blamed the little girl for the death of the Lady, almost as if she was the cause for the Earl of Lemeria's affair. No wonder that Victoria turned bitter and became the main antagonist of the novel. Yet, I am not taking the same route as the poor girl and not going to endure the same ending. I am not going to bear other people's mistakes.
"The Earl of Lemeria addressed you a question, answer now, would you?!" Rose demands "How dare you to be so ignorant!"
"Sorry, I was caught up in my head." I reply politely and immediately greeted with shocked faces. This is because former Victoria would never have tolerated such an attitude towards her, instead she would throw a glass at Rosa that would cause another scandal. Should I do the same? Could these sudden changes in Victoria be considered suspicious?
"I'm not feeling well" I test the waters.
"You know who is hosting the ball" My words are being entirely ignored.
Does the Earl of Lemeria care about his daughter a single bit? Poor girl, how could she bear this?
"Of course" I say, quickly recalling the book in my head. " This is the Royal Ball. I have been looking forward to it for a long time now. Though my health…"
"The invitation has been approved by the Royal Seal! Not showing up is pure disrespect to the King and the guests!"
"You only think about yourself!" Squeals Rosa, somehow looking like a lapdog barking under the owner's arms.
"I have a valid reason not to go." I speak to Victoria's father.
"I do not care about your whines. You aren't five years old. High-ranking people will be attending the Ball. Even the Prince of Ruanda. We are in a trading relationship with them, so if you want to be called Graf's daughter, be so kind and do what you are told!" Father's voice is full of anger.
"Father, enough!" Deckard raises his voice. "She gets it, okay? Do you?" He looks up at me with a frown on his face. I give him a small nod, there is a lump stuck up my throat. I have never been spoken to with so much hatred. If this was my real father I wouldn't be able to hold back my tears.
Knowing from the book that Victoria has a complex relationship with her father, I never expected it to be this bad. After all, the story was mostly Elisa centered, her life where Victoria only served as pain in the arse.
"The Ball is in two days. Be nice and don't do anything stupid." The Earl of Lemeria spits out getting up from his seat.
'Does he refer to that 'roof incident'?' I think to myself. 'He thinks she was pretending?' I watch my named father leaving the dining hall, Rosa following him like a loyal dog, Deckard being the last.
I am left alone behind a huge table. A few lit candles are placed in the middle of it, I never take my eyes off of the flames. 'Such a big house makes me feel so little and lonely.' This is how Victoria must have felt in here. I wonder what truly happened to her Mother. There was not much on her in the book…
The flame flickers in a small dance. 'I have no choice, but to go to the Ball. Even if I hide, the Ball is held every three months, sooner or later I will have to attend it. It looks like it won't be easy to change the plot of the book. What if the death of Victoria is inevitable in the end? What if no matter how hard I try it all comes down to her?'
The thoughts are messing up with my brain making my whole body freeze. I grab onto the tablecloth to keep me grounded. What do I do? I look down at my wrists, there is no mark there yet, but as soon as I see the "True" one it will appear, the exact same that Alan carries from birth.
When he sees the mark he won't let me go. Finding the "True" among people is significant for Alan's clan. Strong heirs can only be born from a "True Love", there is a high chance that children will be gifted with a Magic ability. However, love doesn't come together with the Mark... at least for Victoria's case. The King will hand me over to Alan just to avoid any conflicts, nobody will care what happens after, so would nobody care for my death…
By a sudden impulse I grab one of the candles and bring it up to my wrist and wait… The flames are burning the skin, but I take it all tightly clenching my teeth. And, no, I am not crazy. Think about it, if the skin is burnt I have an excuse to cover up the place, so no one will have to see the Mark. Besides, even if it does appear, the pattern won't be recognisable, which means I can easily lie and pretend like I see no match between the Prince's Mark and mine. If the scar is the price to pay for my life, so be it.
I bite my lip in order to keep quiet and close my eyes. Hell, this hurts! But that's okay, it's gonna be okay, just a bit more.
"What are you doing?!" Suddenly reaches my ears.