A meadow full of blossoming flowers, trees that dance to the echo of the spinning wind, and the Wright family lives on the outskirts of this lovely town.
Baron Wright.
A family endowed with wealth, renown, and dignity lineage of one of the Wralovaria's most distinguished knights. People regard them with awe and adoration, and one of the reasons for this is how effectively they connect with ordinary folks.
The Wright family is enjoying a formal dinner inside the estate. Several servants entered the room and offered cold food and expensive wine to the whole family. "Maribelle, your coming of age is near," the forefather said hoarsely, setting his utensils down, and a servant immediately placed a cloth between his lips, wiping the sauce with delicate ease.
The forefather raised his hand and the servant stopped, then he continued to speak, "What are your suggestions for your upcoming party?" Maribelle looked at her grandfather and said, "Nothing, but please make it grand like the palace."
A young boy suddenly intervened with the discussion and laughed at her, "More grandiose like a palace. Your joking, right?" He laughed so much that the food inside his mouth spilled out.
"Shut it, Marcus," was an earful scold from Mrs. Agnes Wright. She eyed Marcus, saying to stop talking and continue to eat. Hearing her mother, Marcus stopped, looked down at its plate, and continued to eat. Watching her little brother act, she smirks and signals Marcus to know his place.
"More grandeur than palace..." The forefather signaled one of his servants, and a man with one-sided hair suddenly walked near him and brought out a quill and book. "Contact Menesiggan and make sure that he'll be here tomorrow morning," the servant wrote in his order before bowing and walking away silently back to his position.
Mr. Wright, on the other hand, grabbed and rang the dinner bell after wiping his lips with his serviettes. Servants began to take their positions, waiting for the lord of the house to leave the table. Mr. Wright ate quietly, drank his wine, and went without saying anything about his family. The rest of the family stopped eating and remained silent as they waited for their father to leave the table. The maids gently open the door and allow Mr. Wright to exit the room while the rest of the family continues to eat.
This is a common occurrence around the dinner table. They'll all eat in quiet, with nothing to talk about.
**********
This night, the golden moon shone brightly, and a man in his nightgown went into the hall. He walked inside one of the dusty, crawler-infested chambers.
He used his candle to find his way to the entrance in the room's far corner. When he found the door, the man silently unlocked it, and stairs leading down were revealed. He moves down carefully while feeling the walls.
At the end of the stairway appeared stocks of unwanted objects. He walked deeper until he reached another room. And this room looks like a prison cell—no, it is more like a small cage for unwanted pests.
Inside was a girl with unruly black hair. When the light from the candle reached her, her eyes flitted. She tried her hardest to reach the bars and the sole light she saw. The man abruptly snatched the iron rod and struck the girl's arm with such vigor.
"Eek!" The girl retracted her arm fast and tried to mend the pain by caressing, "aua, aua." Even without light, her arm was noticeably swollen. "Don't you dare touch me!" the man said angrily. His rage did not wane until he stabbed the girl numerous times with an iron rod to express his displeasure with what she had done.
"I'm sorry, papa," she murmured, attempting to keep her tears from falling. The man closed his candle to the cage and looked at her fierily. "You'd never learn, did you?" he said.
She shrieked when she saw his expression. She unintentionally put both of her arms into her face and tried to shield her head.
"Good," the man said calmly as he grabbed the bucket near the cage, and he splashed the contents of the bucket on the frightened girl. "Hic!" She exclaimed as her body suddenly reacted to the cold water.
"Hahaha," he couldn't contain his laugh as he watched the girl tremble in cold and fear. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry, okay?" he said while holding his laughter.
He reached into his pocket to take out a single piece of hard bread. "Take this; you got to eat," he mockingly tried to stop his laugh while tossing the bread towards the girl. Smelling the aroma of cold bread, she opened her arms to catch it and gnawed the bread instantly.
The man shook his head while watching this frail girl gobble the hard bread and said, "What a witch." He threw his hand and exclaimed intensely, "Ugh! A witch!"
It took only seconds before she finished her meal. She suddenly put her face on the cold floor and licked the spilled water to drink. Disgusting as it is, he can only shake his head in disappointment; this girl in front of him is his very own flesh and blood.
Zill Malheure Wright.
"No," the man whispered while looking at her as the candlelight danced. He sighed, leaning his face against the cage to see the girl more clearly and looking at her directly in the eyes. "Your surname isn't Wright. Yeah, you're just Zill Malheure, a dirty witch."
"Pa, am I really a witch?" She couldn't look at her father directly; she had no idea what her sin was or what she needed to do to be forgiven. "I couldn't tell what I was; am I really a dirty witch?" She asked in a low tone while trying to hold back her stomach due to hunger.
Mr. Wright used the end of the iron rod to touch her face; he didn't dare touch her directly because there was lots of grease and unwanted things that painted her. Her father looked at her with disdain and said, "Oh no, not just a witch—a dirty bitch!"
That intensity from his voice alone crushed her heart to pieces; her tears poured down silently while the heat of light slowly went away. And once again, cold and darkness embrace her.
"When will I get out?" she asked herself, even though she had already given up and just wanted to rest for eternity in this forsaken place.