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The Crown Of Sorrows

🇺🇸EverStone
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Synopsis

Chapter 1 - The Crown Of Sorrows

Grace Lockhart was born just a normal little girl, or at least that's what you would like to believe. We all wanted to believe that until the truth came out. Grace Lockhart was born into an abusive home, with an alcoholic mother whose favorite pastime was to abuse Grace. Grace, like many kids, did not have a father, so her mother became her world. Until Grace grew to the age of five years old. Grace's mother disappeared, leaving this little girl homeless. So Grace spent the next three years on the streets, homeless, always looking for her next meal.

The thing about Grace Lockhart is that no matter how bad her life is, Grace came out ahead of everyone else. The mystery about Grace runs deep. As if cursed by the star of misfortune, any who wish her harm are instead met with their own misfortune and harm. She was called the cursed child by her mother and anyone else around her. This cursed child bore a hard burden known as The Crown Of Sorrows.

But what made Grace Lockhart special is the fact that she is aware of her own circumstances. However, Grace never lets that affect her life. Grace uses her abilities for her own amusement, as someone who bears such a title should. Grace Lockhart is a sovereign, one who will stand above all as is her right. But the journey to become a sovereign can't be without its fun. So join Grace in her adventures to find her own path to happiness.

Grace only had to live on the streets for several days until she found a home. As if the world sensed her needs, it appeared before her. The Cave Of Wonders—it was from this place that Grace Lockhart's real adventure would begin.

**January 14th, 2024 Grace Lockhart, Age 8**

On this particular night in 2024, the skies were clear and bright as the moon reflected Grace's mood. Right now, Grace found herself laying on top of a giant black bear, Ruby, her best friend since her mother abandoned her. After Grace finished her barbecued meat with Ruby by her side, Ruby walked back into their home with Grace on her back.

Grace made herself comfortable in her living room, surrounded by all kinds of books from all over the world, as well as a giant computer screen in front of her limited-edition platinum lazy boy recliner. That's right, Grace is an internet and book junkie who loves cultivation, isekai novels, and web novels. Grace Lockhart is an otaku but a hard-working one. Grace always manages to get all of her reading done before it is her bedtime, so Grace always feels that she is responsible just like an adult.

As usual, Grace was reading the latest web novels online on her big monitor in front of her, when suddenly, Graces home, The Cave Of Wonders, began to shake with strange symbols beginning to appear on the walls. As these symbols appeared on the cave walls around Grace, the room started to glow brighter and brighter until finally, the light became blinding to Graces eyes.

When the bright light finally started to calm down, Grace was able to see her living room again, making Grace sigh in relief that everything was all right. "Thank goodness all of my books did not fall to the ground," commented Grace as she wanted to continue to just ignore the situation and finish her reading.

But Ruby, laying at Graces side, could feel the new and weird energy in the air of this place. She knew that this is definitely not earth anymore. So Ruby pushed Grace to go check the situation outside of their home. When Grace left the Cave Of Wonders, her mouth just about hit the ground.

"Darn, we're not in Kansas anymore!" could be heard as Grace looked into the sky, only to see that she had somehow found herself in the middle of a giant desert with a large blue sun gently glowing above her head. Hearing Grace's cursing, Ruby soon showed up outside next to Grace without seeming to be surprised at all.

Grace looked to Ruby and frowned. "Well Ruby, let's take a look around. This is definitely not Washington anymore! How did we get here?" With that statement, Grace crawled onto Ruby's head, wearing her little white princess dress, as Grace and Ruby began to take a look around this desert they found themselves in.

Looking around her, Grace wondered how she ended up here of all places. Let's look around, Grace thought. Grace patted Ruby's head and Ruby, understanding Graces intentions, began to walk forward. But as usual with Grace's bad luck, an inconspicuous cloud seemed to follow Grace above her head, making the area around her nice and comfortable.

"Hmm Ruby, the weather sure is nice for this place being a desert." Ruby simply grunted in acknowledgment of Grace's statement. Lifting her hand, Grace loved to pet Ruby's soft and cool fur as they kept walking for the next several hours.

While Grace was sitting on the back of Ruby, her tummy began to rumble a little bit as she became hungry. Grace rubbed her stomach as she began to frown in discomfort from being hungry. Before it became a serious issue, something fell out of the sky, landing in front of Grace and Ruby with a mild thud. Ruby, surprised that something landed in front of them, began to growl until they both noticed what it was.

As if by some weird coincidence, what showed up was simply a frosted ice cream treat wrapped in delicate pink tissue paper. High above Grace in the sky and impossible for them to hear, someone was cursing that they lost their food for their young lady. Ruby simply walked up to the food and, as if something like this happens a lot around her, Ruby simply swiped the treat with her paw, sending the still cold treat into the hands of Grace.

"Oh, what did you find this time Ruby?" asked Grace as she simply held the treat in her hands and quickly opened it. Surprised by the sight of a giant pink heart-shaped ice cream cake, with a smile Grace pulled out the fork that she always kept with her. "You never know when some delicious food may fall out of the sky!" commented Grace while completely ignorant of how she got this food.

As Grace continued to eat her treat on the back of Ruby, they continued to walk in this desert in a straight line. As the day progressed into the afternoon, Grace would occasionally become thirsty, only for the unusual cloud following her to drop a bit of ice into Grace's hand.

One of Grace's favorite things to do is to chew ice, a bad habit she picked up from when her mother would often try to lock her in a freezer. Graces mother always tried to hurt her, lots of times by putting her into a giant chest freezer. But as always with Graces luck, they would quickly stop working and soon fall apart so Grace could escape. While this was happening, Grace would simply chew on ice waiting. To Grace, this was not a particularly bad memory but was definitely a sign of a troubled mother.

When the blue sun was shining down on Grace, she suddenly had a sense of danger as if being stared at by a predator. "It's not that pesky truant officer, is it? If he followed me here, then I just need to have Ruby send him packing again!" Grace said angrily, her eyes super alert. "Careful Ruby, I think that truant officer is back again. If he thinks he can get me to go to school then Humph! I'm going to show that guy."

As Grace Lockhart pondered the arrival of the dreaded truant officer. The real predator showed itself.