Chapter 3 – Violet Bernard
After viscount Bernard's death, an order was issued by the king to demote his viscountcy to a barony, leaving his wife as acting baron in his stead with help from his brother.
A few months after his death his wife gave birth to a son whom she raised him as heir until he came of age and unherited the barony and eventually gotten married. And after a few years, his uncle's wife gave birth to three sons, among them two twins, they were all raised in the barony.
However, their family's fate took a darker turn with the birth of his daughter, a girl with distinct purple eyes and hair – a holder of the gift- .
After careful consideration his uncle and aunt decided to leave the barony with their children because of their son's condition. Unfortunately, tragedy struck when they were ambushed on their way and died protecting their children. The sons were escorted back to the estate and raised alongside Violet Bernard until she got married to Baron Weistrass.
The Bernard family's history was plagued by assassinations and mysterious deaths, so it came as no surprise that when Baron Bernard's daughter was born, she was raised with secrecy and heightened protection. Her father waited until she reached adulthood and married her off to a wealthy baron in the far countryside, hoping she would be safe away from the city.
Violet heard nothing from her father or cousins until news of his death reached her, and she inherited their former estate. She had received letters from her cousins for a while, but those too ceased after a few months.
Her husband grew jealous of her meager wealth and decided to sell his estate as his income grew meager, and to use hers for living . That's when her ordeal began, she had no means of joining her cousins, nor could she ask for help from anyone. Eventually, she returned to the place her father had worked so hard to send her away from.
Her husband's abuse only intensified, and as their financial resources dwindled, so did their food. Desperate to survive, she took up work as a maid in a prominent shop in the village.
She had to wear disguises constantly and ensure her husband remained oblivious. However, her job lasted only a few weeks before she was replaced by a more competent maid.
With no other choice and food becoming scarce, she resorted to working as a prostitute in one of the village's largest brothels. She made clever use of her gift to quickly gain fame, but her popularity led the brothel to limit her services to only twice a week to leave some customers for the other prostitutes. This restriction prevented her from saving much or escaping her husband's tyranny.
Her life soon became a set of contradictions, if she wanted to live she had to run from the estate, but then again she would be leaving the only legacy of her family to that bastard of a husband, and even if she left she couldn't make money other than prostitution and that would put her life in danger because her gift could get exposed.
So she stayed in the barony and continued her job until she became pregnant with Izaya.
Her husband had grown suspicious of her and lashed out on her when she stepped out on an afternon, she reassured him and was able to persuade him using her gift but was obligated to sleep with him and weeks after she became pregnant.
She had stopped prostitution completely until a few months after her son was born, she had to provide for him as all her savings were spent in those nine months, so she started leaving in the middle of the night when he fell asleep and would come back at dawn.
It was a miracle that the baby was a heavy sleeper, her husband however ; would sleep in bars nowdays, so she at least wouldn't have a problem of him finding out.
She continued that way until she encountered one night duke Kenwood, She had heard of him when she was in her late teens, a man known for his kindness and handsomeness, a better prince than the actual princes. It was a shock to see him in a brothel, though she refrained from approaching him.,
Instead she decided to abstain that night and keep the other prostitues company, but her night took a dark turn when she was grabed and dragged away by a customer, it was rare but some customers treeted them as mere cattle, so she braced herself for what was to come when the man was abruptly stopped by none other that the duke.
He intervened, checking on her and shooing the man away. She saw roses that night—a symbol of kindness she hadn't encountered in years. she didn't realize before she offered herself to him as thanks, she was as surprised as the duke when she heard herself, but the duke, ever the gentleman, declined her offer. It seemed he had only been passing through the village and had heard about the bar but was unaware it was also a brothel. Realizing this, she excused herself and left the brothel. Violet encountered the duke every few days after that, and her interest in him grew.
She heard then that it was his last day there and couldn't resist her desires, she had never been held kindly and wanted to experience it at least once, so she offered herself again and this time he answered, he was truly kind, and she used her gift to provide them both with a memorable night then left the bed by dawn, she felt good even after her husband beat her up that day.
But a few weeks later, she turned out pregnant, this time she was both happy and sad, as it was obviously not her husband's child but it was also that kind man's child, she named him Oliver.
She wanted a name that reminds of his ancestor so that he wouldn't loose his ties to his family and his middle name would be Stuwart, her ancestor's legacy which became her family's is not to stand out, or more accuratly to sound as harmless as possible, and beacuse of the puppetor's forshadowing of their future he had chosen the last name Bernard, a name as boring and unthreatning as it sounds, so she settled on Stewart good enough to sound like good person without attracting attention.
After Oliver turned six, she was surprised to see him awaken to his gift as even his father, the duke was not a holder, and her fear for him only grew, so she asked him to not tell anyone, even his brother, if his father heard of it, he would know Oliver wasn't his and he would kill them both if not all three.
Only a month after, her eldest too began showing a strange behavior, his bruises which usually would take a few days to heal were gone the next day, and minor injuries healed after a few hours, she couldn't understand how this was possible unless he had the healing gift but that was impossible as the only holders were the Cyrus family after all.
It was also a surprise that he had been born with blue eyes, which was a distinct trait of the Cyrus household, but there were still a few occasions where children were born with blue eyes, so she didn't think much of it. But she still disguised him in front of his father; she was afraid he would make assumptions and hurt her son badly when his judgment was clouded.
She didn't understand her son's condition even after looking through the books of the estate, so, as she did with the youngest, she asked him to keep it to himself. She was also afraid that her husband would beat him more if he knew he healed quickly.
After the fateful day of her husband's death at her sons' hands, she couldn't regret enough not doing the deed herself, but unfortunately, she now could only apologize to them. She couldn't hope to be forgiven; she only wished for salvation for her children so that guilt wouldn't eat away at them.
After she fell ill, she sensed her death nearing with each passing day, but her last days were the happiest at her sons' side. She taught them how to cook, how to mend clothes, and where her safe was. Fortunately, she had already taught them how to read and write.
Her children grew restless with each passing hour of her last day. She thought of everything: her children, how they would be orphans now with no one to help, and then of her cousins. But she couldn't reach them nor leave her sons with the vain hope of finding them on their own. So, she wanted to be selfish one last time and told Oliver about his father. If anyone could help them now, it would be him. She was thankful that neither of them had her gift; otherwise, they would be killed as soon as they left their house. But Izaya still had to hide his eyes; she didn't want him to take any risk.
On her deathbed, Violet was in despair. Leaving her two sons, barely 8 years old, to fend for themselves was cruel. But when was fate ever kind to her family? She now left them with her name to carry but not spread. She had already passed on her title to her eldest the day before.
-Children who only need the bread of their day end up in the slums, but those who hope for better days will become mercenaries or soldiers- . Her father used to repeat these words to her and her cousins.
So, she decided to give her children a goal, a quest to achieve, and before her last breath, she wished it would keep them from going astray.