[Two years later]
Kingdom of Orqus Vlud:
The winter was severe in the kingdom of Orqus Vlud. The aristocrats coped in their mansions with the warm furnance burning, keeping them protected. They were even wealthy enough to escape the cold and spend the winters on some summer palace up north during the winters.
But this was not the case for the less fortunate.
Every year during the winters, the nobles saw it as an opportunity to finish off the peasants as they believed they were an eyesore for the kingdom to look after. Children were the major victims yearly as they were forsaken by their parents unable to feed them.
Kingdom of Orqus Vlud outskirts:
Beneath a withered willow tree lay Louis. Leaning his back against the coarse bark and snow all around. He was scrawny, with grime all over and his feet - bare, cold, and red. Covered in bruise and scars, famished and weary after not eating for days and now just waiting to expire in the corner of a kingdom unknown to him, as he saw a pack of wolves approach him.
But beneath the grime was beauty where no one could deny that it was the visage of a celestial being. With wavy honey blonde hair, which was tousled, lashes longer than a Blythe doll, skin as pale as a specter and eyes silvery grey. The Chesterton were well-known for their beauty as they were said to be blessed by Aphrodite. But this blessing was more like a curse to Louis.
Back then, two years ago, after he arrived in Orqus Vlud, he immediately caught the attention of some slave traders.
"N-Nanny-....NANNY!" Louis screamed.
It was Louis's first time seeing blood. A dark crimson red fluid flowed as his cloth was drenched in her blood, and without a moment spared, he was hit unconscious. When he woke up, he was already at an auction house and the nanny had already been murdered not even a week as they settled in as she was already aged and deemed useless to sell her. From that day, he understood the concept of murder and death.
He was dressed lavishly, covered in jewelry, fine silk, laces, and a chain dangling from his neck. He was being treated like a rare article. The bidders were stunned. Not because it was a juvenile but because of his beauty. Child slaves were legal in this corrupt country. Therefore, if they were to win him, an object desired by everyone in the auction house, it could be a way to flaunt their wealth. Greed made the bidders insane and the price kept on rising.
"50 MILLION GOLD COINS!
75 MILLION GOLD COINS!
100 MILLION GOLD!!!
GOING ONCE ! GOING TWICE! AND SOLD FOR ONE HUNDRED MILLION GOLD". The host cried out.
The crowd was furiously seeking the bidder only to be taken aback. There were mutters among the crowd as everyone knew of her.
"shh, she'll hear you, best be quiet."
"Why did no one tell me she was going to be here tonight?!"
"That boy is done for, I'll bet he'll last less than a fortnight."
It was none other than Lady Jean Millard. Everyone knew of her, a villainess, a true one at that. She was the only daughter of the Millard family. Growing up spoiled, she had everything she ever desired, eventually destroying herself. She was much more notorious than what was known to the publics eye. Involving in drugs, slave trade, child trafficking, violence, sexual assaults and immeasurably more.
"You are still young, my dear boy, I'll have you for later, but for now, you are under my care." she said as she grinned and pulled him by the chain on his neck.
Louis got down on his knees, and the crowd roared in laughter. The concerns earlier were all hypocrisy, and now Louis was dragged away to a new hell.
[two years later]
Louis, now eleven, still trapped in the Millard house. She had made him unrecognizable now. Although his face was spared, there were still scars caused by him being ill often, his fingers frail like a twig, lips chapped, and the life from his eyes gone.
Days in the Millard mansion were long and tormenting. Every day, he had to accompany the lady of the house to her tea parties as if he were an ornament, and with even the slightest blunder, he was penalized. But it was no usual penalty. He was flogged almost every day as part of her amusement, left to starve, and even when he was ill, he wasn't allowed to see a doctor. The maids pitied him, but they were powerless. Whenever he was left alone when she got bored, he would cry himself until he passed out.
Day by day, bruises and scars became more vivid, and the only place spared was his hair and face. After all, he was to be dolled up whenever the guests arrived to entertain them.
During his short stay, he was taught to play the cello and violin. His only salvation at that time was his instruments. It gave him life, even though the tutors were prejudiced to teach a 'slave', suffering the cruel comments of their teachings.
He had nowhere to go, making him reliant on Lady Millard.
"P-Philllip, Mother, Father. I d-do not know what I have done wrong, so please f-forgive me, I promise not to do it a-again." he stammered as he said with tears and heavy breaths. Louis was a shy taciturn kid even before, and the situation now made it even worse. However, despite being timid, he was quite optimistic.
He dreamt of running away, but it was impossible in this tightly secured mansion. He continued sobbing until he remembered his brother and him lying in their garden back home under the tree as the sun shone. Recalling this, it comforted him as he slept peacefully after many days time.
That night Lady Millard returned from a winter masquerade ball. She was far from sober, even returning with a champagnes bottle. Louis had to escort her back in as her servant. However, the unthinkable happened. Lady Millard started caressing him in place where no one had touched him before. Louis felt uneasy and tried to resist.
"Little boy, I spend a fitting amount of a hundred million on you, and I think tonight is the night I receive it back. Don't you think so?" She was now forcing himself on him, and in a way to defend himself, he grabbed the wine bottle and swayed it at Lady Millard. The same crimson fluid he saw when he was beaten up or when his nanny died came back to him. He backed off, petrified thinking as to what he had done. It was in his nature to be benevolent. Lady Millard had passed because of blood loss from her head. The blood made him think he had murdered her.
He could not believe that he had murdered someone or yet was even capable of murdering someone. He started breathing heavily as the blood stained his hands and face. He dashed out from the backdoor while everyone else in the house were in their chambers asleep. He was afraid of the punishment yet to come compeling him to run. He did not look back, as he ran straight towards the forest in his night gown.
" I killed someone-, I killed Master. what did I do?! I killed her, somebody help me." Louis ran as his eyes were unfocused on the path, and he fell down the snowy hills and sprained his ankles. Refusing to stop, he dragged his blood drenched feet and walked as far as he could away from the mansion.
Hours of walking later, it was now dawn, and he was now prevented from moving further by a pack of silver wolves. Exhausted, he lied down crouching as he saw them draw close. Accepting fate, he shut his eyes as he held the onyx brooch his mother gave him, waiting to be devoured by the beasts.
[somewhere in the forest]
sfx crunch crunch*
The royal troops were marching back home victorious after a year-long war. The first prince had been sent to war instead of the crown prince as the first prince was illegitimate, and the emperor had used this as a chance to deal off with the first prince by sending him to war. To openly show hostility, the emperor placed the royal troops under Duchess Lancaster of the Lancaster family.
Yes, she was a women, however being the only heir to the Dukedom, she had been strictly taught at a young age as the successor, be it in politics or knightly duties.
The Emperor was unaware of the friendship between the first prince with the duchess, making him believe he had succeeded in angering the prince by entrusting it to a woman and not him. However, what he was not expecting was a victorious return from the war. Duchess Lancaster had returned gaining the title as a monster on the battlefield and the first prince as a war hero, and the King was bound to present the first prince a title now.
"Inés, I would like to thank you for this time. I really would not have made it without you" prince André noted.
"ummn" she replied plainly. The prince was used to her replies as they had been friends for a ever since they were young and she was a rather stoic person from the day they met.
''Huh, look over here.'' Andre spoke as he dismounted from his horse.
"Blood trails..." she muttered. 'You head back ahead. I will patrol this place for a while. "
"Wait! Ines, I'll accompany yo-!'' the prince cried out.
"It would be hilarious to see the Kings face as you lead the troops back in. I'll meet you at the evening ball. Hiyah!"
she was now gone, galloping away with her horse without even letting Andre speak.
''Haahh, what am I to do with you'' Andre smiled and sighed as he went back to lead the troops.
Ines followed the faint blood trails, which never seemed to end until she reached a frozen lake and was dumbstruck. Below a dead willow tree was none other than Louis, covered in blood but not dead. Rather, he lay asleep among wolves, with no trace of blood in their jaws. Upon feeling the presence of another human, the wolves woke up and scattered like frost.
Ines was furious. Traces of cuts and bruises all over his body, and he was clearly a child. She was always a just person, even refusing to use child slaves.
Louis woke up and in front of him was a tall figure of a person in heavy armor. He was scared as he had been abused before in the mansion by the adults and servants as well and not only by his master, Lady Millard.
He tried fleeing but was instead pulled into an embrace, which was so familiar yet distant.
The iron armor was cold. However, being finally embraced after a long time made him cry. He recalled his mother and nanny, who would often hold him like that, and how he missed it.
"It's alright boy, everything will be fine now."
He sobbed in her arms as she covered him in her robe while continuing to embrace and caress him. She was furious to see a child left to die in the kingdom she served and felt that the reason went to war was to no avail as the king had not been overlooking the kingdom. She could feel a trace of mana coming from the boy. It piqued her interest, yet it was cold, and the boy grew even paler. Afraid he might not be able to make it, she rushed back to her mansion.
And it was that winter morning, he met Duchess Lily Inés Lancaster, his savior and beloved.