The Chavau family had a bad day because they couldn't create a good opportunity with the most powerful wolf pack. The girls' mood worsened, especially since they would never again have the chance to see what the white Alpha was like.
Even though they were not the destined mate to the Alpha, at least they wished to see the young Alpha King's handsome face and keep it in their memory.
They heard Krista's nagging saying that their head chef, who had worked for decades, had given the girl's favorite pudding to Aria, which intensified the house's irritated frustration.
Lady Chavau had graciously accepted Ariadnne into her home and sent her to the same academy as her two daughters. She had even provided a warm shelter and sufficient food for the abandoned child.
Lady Chavau was angry and thought the unwanted child was ungrateful.
"What a selfish child. What else was missing from your life that you took my daughter's favorite pudding?"
"Mom, it was the last pudding I had," whined Krista while clinging to her mother's arm.
"I know. Let me handle it." coaxed lady Chavau and patted her youngest daughter's hand. "Aria. You are not allowed to set foot in the kitchen from now on. And Rousell, you must accept your punishment for taking my girls' food without my permission."
"Yes, my lady."
"Billy! Give him a fifty!" ordered the lady, earning a shocked gasp from Aria and Rousell. They knew the order meant that Rousell would get a fifty beating.
"My lady, Rousell is already aged. Please show some mercy. It's my fault, after all. I asked for this pudding, and it had nothing to do with…."
"No, my lady. I stole the pudding and gave it to Miss Aria." interrupted Rousell, cutting Aria's words.
"No…"
"My lady, please punish me."
Aria shook her head in disbelief. Why would the poor older man protect her that far?
"My lady. Please punish me too. All blame is on me." Aria begged the heartless mistress and started to kneel to make the Chavau girls sneer at her.
"I wish I could do as you wish. But I can't harm you as much as I like so that he will bear your punishment."
What? What is that supposed to mean? "No… please,"
Lady Chavau cupped Aria's chin in a rough grip, earning a stifled groan from Aria, but the girl didn't rebel. "Let this be your lesson, shall we? If you steal our food again without our knowledge, I assure you that he won't be able to use his hands to cook again. You hear me?"
Aria felt her eyes heat up as tears threatened to come out, but she refused to show her tears in front of this evil witch.
"Do you hear me?!" repeated the evil witch while shaking Aria's head roughly."Yes." Aria tried to hold back her anger and answered it in a choked voice.
"Good." Lady Chavau let her chin go and ordered her husband's man to start the punishment on the poor chef.
Aria was helpless and desperately tried to hold back her tears when she saw Rousell lying with his back facing the sky on a wood bench. Two people stood on either side carrying a long cylinder-like wood cane.
Bug!
Bug!
The two men started hitting Rousell in the back, making a groaning pain escape from the poor guy. Aria clenched her hand in tight fists and gripped her lower garment as if her life were on it.
She wished she was not a human and had authority like some distinguished figure in this world. She had heard that all beings in the five realms were afraid to face the vampire king of the Eternal Empire and the white wolf of the White Bridge Pack.
Both of them had extraordinary self-healing making them undefeatable. But what was the point of her self-healing when she desired to get rid of the wound on Rousell's back?
She wished she was born as a fae that could heal all kinds of wounds and remove poison from her body. That way, she could help and heal Rousell.
If she had been a fae, maybe Lady Chavau wouldn't have mistreated her.
Unfortunately, she was born as a human… and her parents didn't want her, making her an outcasted child since childhood.
Bug! "Forty-nine,"
Bug! "Fifty."
Aria immediately ran over to Rousell as soon as she heard the hit had reached fifty. She could barely hold back her tears when she saw the man's clothes covered with blood.
"Please, call the doctor for him." pleaded Aria hoping that the evil mistress still had a soft spot for the poor old man.
However, the evil mistress and her two daughters had long gone inside the house, not caring what would happen with their cooker.
Aria asked the two people who had punished Rousell for help to lift Rousell into the chef's room. Fortunately, the two people were willing to help her out without much protesting.
She felt uneasy because she noticed that Rousell's breath became ragged as if the time was drawing near for that person's death.
She knew the Chavau wouldn't call the doctor, and they were too stingy to spend money just for the sake of a mere cooker. Aria decided to go to her best friend's house with no other choice.
Aria directly called out her elf-friend and stated her intention without beating around the bush.
"Aria, I can't save him. I'm not a healer, but you can."
"What? You know I can't. I'm not a doctor." Aria decided to be a doctor once she graduated from this academy. Thought Aria silently.
She would take Rousell out of the Chavau family and find a place to live in the elves' territory and settle there. Even though the elves didn't like humans, she was sure that her elf friends were willing to help her for some unknown reasons.
"Who said that you need to be a doctor to save him? You're a fae, and you can heal him by using your power."
"I am a what?!" that's not the answer she expected.