Duck's Note : Hello dear readers ! ヾ(＾∇＾), I just wanted to say that Kedra's prologue is much less integral to your understanding of the story than Bryce's but I still strongly recommend giving it a read. But you can do whatever you want, it's not like I can force you or anything (´・ε・｀)
The very first thing she could recall was the smell of iron and warm liquid pouring out of her left nostril; her knee felt like it was burning; her throat was hoarse; and yet, despite a bleeding nose and bruised leg, all she could focus on were the icy cold stares of the strangers that surrounded her; not a single one dared involve themselves with the bastard child of Deslandes.
The course of her life was determined before it even started; she was the product of an affair between the patriarch of the Deslandes dukedom, one of the most renowned and powerful noble families with strong historical ties to the royal family, and a mere chambermaid. The patriarch had been engrossed by her good looks, a fact that he did not hide particularly well.
When the chambermaid realized her master's attraction, she did her best to seduce and deceive him into conceiving a child with her, thinking that he would care for the child as his own and solidify her position within the Deslandes family.
However, fate was not so kind. As the patriarch learned of the servant's pregnancy, he immediately ordered that the child be placed in a secondary residence, away from the eyes of the other nobility. The child's birth had given him a reality check; he was the patriarch of the Deslandes name, and he could not allow his lapse in judgment to stain his family's name.
He would ignore the child and treat it as if it had never been born. He lacked the heart to put his own flesh and blood to death, but he also lacked the compassion to properly care for it.
This surge of lucidity also made him deal with the chambermaid that had seduced him, as if word got out that he took a commoner as a mistress, he would be the object of ridicule for years to come; thus, he had her framed for attempted assassination and put to death just after her child was born. Expecting that without a proper parental figure or proper care, the child would naturally die out on its own.
Though the child would never learn of her mother's passing, her own fate was perhaps even worse than her late parents'. As an infant, most of the servants assigned to care for her were mainly rejected with terrible performance reviews or those who were facing potential dismissal; thus, the care she received was always sub-par at best, though occasionally a servant would pity the girl and take proper care of her. Such random acts of kindness never lasted long.
Thanks to the infrequent acts of good will from her servants, the young girl managed to learn language at a similar pace to other children of her age. During her second year alive, she spoke her very first word, a perfect mirror of her surroundings, the word that defined her existence, the word that she would hear come out of the mouth of each maid in her service at least once daily:
"Trash."
Growing up, her personality did not develop; no one would bother to teach her the ways of the world after all. This lack of development caused the child's emotional growth to become stunted. As soon as she gained proper cognition, she began to question her situation; she began to understand what pain was, and with that understanding came a new torrent of questions.
She couldn't understand why her pain was ignored by those around her, why her cries were met with mockery, and why her outbursts were met with such potent physical punishment. Such was the norm for her until the day of her fourth birthday, where no celebration was had, as per usual, but two guests appeared at the dilapidated gates of her household, accompanied by a small handful of guards.
They were a few years older than the child; their clothing was bright and ornate, decorated with gems and gold, though their most dazzling traits were their deep red hair and green eyes that shone like jewels. The child had similar hair, though dirt had muddied its color; she had similar eyes, though they lacked the shine that the eyes of the two children outside the gate displayed.
As she stared at them through the window, she noticed that the pair outside were ushered into the residence, and she could finally hear what the maids were speaking to them about.
"Lord Ansell, Lady Aline, would be so kind as to reiterate the reason for your visit; your aide was not clear in his speech."
The slightly older of the two, Ansell, spoke up.
"Our elder brother told us that one of our siblings lived here."
"One of our playmates has gone missing, so we're here to play with her instead." The younger girl added.
The maid's face grew slightly weary. She was under orders to keep the child a secret, but it was clear that the two already knew of her, and refusing to allow them to meet her would only lead to trouble. After making up her mind, she put on a fake smile and replied.
"Of course, feel free to do so."