Life was full of complications. When you're born, there are strings attached. In my case, someone already cut it before I knew it.
A veil lifted from my nascent eyes, revealing a world of blurred shapes and distant echoes. Amidst this sensory bombardment, clarity emerged. I perceived a hooded woman, her tear-streaked face etched in my mind, as she relinquished her hold on me, leaving me under the wavering leaves of the forest that only reflected the moonlight. At that moment, I realized I was not just a newborn, but a vessel carrying the weight of memories from another realm. Though her words remained foreign to my ears, her love manifested in the gentle caress of her warm hands, lately recognizing that she was my mother.
As chaos erupted around us, she boarded me in a small vessel that glided across the river's surface. With each ripple, her image grew fainter until she vanished without a trace.
Fury and frustration reverberated through the footsteps that shook the earth, transforming the once peaceful sanctuary into a treacherous landscape. I would be declared lucky since no one crossed my path, and her pursuers didn't recognize me, although it was still unlucky for me. No matter how desperately I cried out, my anguish fell on deaf ears, as if I was ignored and forgotten by the world.
I've witnessed the Sun and Moon cycle twice. Devoid of life-giving water, I should've died not long ago. Yet, I find myself trapped in uncontrollable tears and bodily spasms. If this were a mere tale of Isekai, I should've silenced my pursuers' wrath with a mighty fireball… only if I had one.
Along my stipulated voyage, a flamelike blue flower unfurled its delicate petals before me. Wherever my gaze roamed, this enchanting bloom reigned supreme. Soon, fate intervened, entangling my boat in the gnarled branches of a riverside tree.
As my cries echoed through the air, a vision of a woman emerged from the river's depths. Her body is adorned with glistening water droplets after bathing in the river's gentle current. Fortune smiled upon me, sparing me from the waterfall that lay downstream.
Her tongue swirled out foreign words, like a traveler from a distant land. Her language was beyond the reach of my understanding. She emerged with a renewed purpose, carrying me in her embrace towards an uncertain destination that soon became certain… her home.
As the echoes of their argument with her husband reverberated the moment she brought me in, I found solace in the company of a curious three-year-old boy. His playful spirit and infectious laughter distracted me from the alien-like drama. After a mutual understanding, their faces softened, and they turned to me with gentle smiles, like accepting me into a world that was once foreign but was now my home.
For years that have passed, I never regained control of my body. I wasn't here to become a spectator, like a third-person omniscient narrator. In these years, there's only a repeated word that I recognize, Quimora. That's my name… or rather the name of the kid that was adopted.
"Brother Zeus!" Quimora shouted while chasing my brother, Zeus, in a play of tag around our house. I felt her hastened pulse and adrenaline rush from the excitement this simple game gave.
"Come here, Quimora!" Zeus shouted, his glittering amber eyes and softened expression of adoration fixed onto mine.
Her feet, like wayward butterflies, would stumble upon irregular footings, sending her tumbling into fits of laughter. Her negativity clung to her like a ghostly shroud. Yet, as an inseparable part of her body, I bore witness to the hidden depths of her soul. I never get tired of cursing her, but there's no indication that she can hear me.
My brother, Zeus, would engage in playful pursuits of tag with me. He possessed a unique gift to keep boredom at bay, yet he effortlessly captivated Quimora's attention. I would pay him a hefty price if he became my birthday party's clown.
Soon, I embarked on a linguistic exercise alongside Quimora. Her blunders were as dumb as her personality. My mother, Azalea, being the seasoned farmer that she was, became our teacher. A year later, Quimora was still learning how to read. However, I already mastered the basics. Her favorite word was 'suppose,' another way of saying that a thing was uncertain.
Our father, Lucas, a noble who oversaw agriculture in our sector, engaged in deep conversations with my mother each evening after work. One day when my father came home, I overheard their conversation.
"Those damn pigs, threatening us to pay for hefty taxes! Don't they realize they're already profiting too much from our territory without any effort? Soon, we'll be forced to leave. We're rapidly losing Azalea. I don't know what to do," my father cried.
My mother rubbed his back and comforted him. "It's fine. As long as our family is still complete and living, it's more than enough for me."
"I'm sorry if I promised you that I will make you my princess. I'm the worst man in history."
"Don't blame yourself, Lucas. The world is unjust, to begin with, and nothing's your fault."
"Only if I know, I shouldn't have served the empire if we're only going to drown in debt. We don't deserve the treatment that we pay using our taxes. This is my land. I should be the only one having benefits, not some greedy ass bub."
Taxes are like our sense of humor, painful to deal with, and always taking more than we'd like. At least with taxes, we get to contribute to society. However, in most cases, it's the necessary evil in life that's as popular as a skunk at a perfume convention. It's the ruling body's way of saying, Hey, we need your money to function, so hand it over.
"Don't say such things! You don't want Quimora learning it from you. We can still enjoy living a simple life. You don't have to provide us with luxury to survive. Our family is complete, and that's more than enough. If we leave here, we won't be having these issues in the future."
"But how can we leave here!? This land has been governed for generations by my family. My name and my grave were already tied in this place. There's no other place that we can go where they will accept us. It would only become harder. "
My father stood as a testament to the absence of this illustrious skill. It seemed as if his lineage had neglected to pass on the wisdom of ruling a land. Mother and father's hushed conversations always talked about this topic ever since my arrival into their family.
"I respect your decision, Lucas. I know that you're doing your best to provide for our needs. But… don't overexert yourself. If you're tired, you can always lay on my lap and rest."
Like Mom asked to, Dad put his head over her lap and sobbed, "It shouldn't have become this. If only I was not the inheritor of this place, we wouldn't become a mess. Damn, those greedy pigs… Asking for Quimora in exchange for those taxes… I would never ever do that…"
That inhumane barter alarmed me. Not to brag, but my appearance harbored a snow-white beauty accompanied by a distinguishable silver-gray hair. My comely appearance made me the top crush of the fellow kids of the nearby living farmers. I didn't expect that the empire's royalty would take an interest in me, a 5-year-old child.
7 BN, eight winters have passed since I joined the Wallenstein family. I bore the enigmatic affliction of Quimora's unyielding devotion to the word "Suppose." Due to the repeated conversation of the empire's request to our family, it was inevitable for Quimora to know the unusual trade offered to our father.
For the previous days, Father always went home with a slouched body posture and steps that dragged. He always greeted Mother with half-closed eyes, harboring an unfocused gaze, and slow deep breaths, requesting for a long rest. Mother nodded, understanding Father's situation. After entering his room, he never left it open each night.
Our father's unusual condition bothered Quimora, forcing her way into his room out of curiosity. There she saw Father who was sagging on his chair beside the bed. His lively eyes were fixed on the ground, staring at nothing. Knowing that Quimora caught his attention, he didn't faze.
"Father…" As soon as she muttered, I felt lifeless like him. Her crimson-red eyes narrowed, her eyebrows pulling down in concentration. She approached and hugged him, her eyes withdrawing. "You're not alone, Father. I'm right here."
Her kind soothing tone made him return her embrace. Our parents never failed to satisfy us with their love, hence Quimora developed a heightened sense of intuition, feeling in sync with other people's energy. She knew what she should do once she saw someone in despair. Never knowing the reason for his sadness, Quimora did her best to comfort him.
"Thank you, Quimora… I'll never… never ever let you go…" Father cried with a tearful voice while stroking her dimmed silver hair. After crying for minutes, Father fell unconsciously into a deep sleep. Quimora flattened him on his bed and covered him with a blanket.
Alas, fate dealt us a cruel hand last year when our family was burdened with an overwhelming tax debt. The empire's insatiable hunger for wealth slashed our family's income by half, leaving us with a year to settle this dire obligation.
Our once vibrant household endured a year of frugal sustenance, subsisting on meager soups. My brother, who had just embarked on his noble journey at the Knight Academy, was forced to retreat during his freshman year. Father, robbed of restful nights, sacrificed half his earnings to amass funds for this looming payment. The weight of a million grand hung heavy upon his shoulders, a burden that pressed down upon him like an unyielding mountain.
His once robust frame had surrendered to the relentless onslaught of time and hardship, leaving him gaunt and emaciated. With each passing day, his weight loss outpaced ours. When he returned home, he would sink into the embrace of a chair, his gaze wandered into nothingness, and his lips turned downward in a frown. Even my youthful mother could not bail herself out of worry. Wrinkles etched themselves onto her face, a testament to the sleepless nights she had endured.
The Briston empire's reign was shrouded in the insatiable hunger for wealth and power. Yet, as the scepter passed into the hands of Skade, the empire's rapaciousness reached unprecedented heights. The land, once teeming with life, was transformed into a desolate wasteland. The common folk became mere shadows lurking in the alleyways, stripped of their only sustenance, food.
The empire became a playground for the privileged few, while the middle class, including us, found themselves teetering on the precipice of despair, our lives consumed by the insatiable desires of those who sat upon the throne.
Quimora recognized that there would be no end to the empire's madness. Even if our family pays our debt, it will just stockpile. I saluted her for being wary and observant. However, three days before the debt should be paid and our futures will be put in the guillotine, I brought back my word after her suggestion disgusted me and my family.
Quimora faced my parents and uttered things beyond my control, "Mother, father, I'm sorry for what we're experiencing. I suppose I have an idea to save our family from dying."
My mother replied with a lost life force in her voice, "What, Quimora? Don't tell us you're planning to become the empire's servant?"
She didn't respond. This affirming silence made Father hiss, their eyes bulging, unable to blink. It didn't take long for my father to stand up, gripped my shoulders, and shook my body.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT YOU'RE SAYING!? You'll die purple and early full of bruises! Do you witness how those buttocks treat their maids!? Even in the throne room, they're using them as chairs! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT, QUIMORA!?"
To stop Father's hysterical shouts, Mother butted in. "Lucas, that's enough! You're hurting Quimora."
"It would be worse if she went in there! Even if the servants became their employees, there's no guarantee that their families will be saved. That's just poor lies! I told you… it will only become worse…" Soon, tears crawled down his gaunt face, and his suppressed despair erupted like a volcano.
"I'm sorry… I was just… trying to help save our family… I don't want Father to suffer anymore…" Quimora muttered as tears fell down her eyes.
"You don't understand, Quimora. You don't know how cruel the empire was. It's my responsibility to clean this mess, and not yours."
"I… I'm sorry…"
I always wanted to say that to this dumb shit. I don't like being grateful. But thanks for being so wary, Father. Am I being attached to her? Well, it's alright, since I'm also living in the same body. If she dies, I'm over. I wouldn't get answers to my questions from Roze this way. I thought.
Since Mother also disapproved of the idea, Quimora only had the choice to retreat. Quimora wiped her tears, covered her face, and ran to her room. Her wail echoed throughout and out of the room, and it lasted for an hour. Her dark thoughts sank through me until she slept unconsciously.
For the next day, Quimora never left her comfort box. Her family was wary since she didn't have the appetite to eat their meals. Zeus, unaware of what happened, initiated to, perhaps, understand what has been bugging Quimora.
"Quimora, are you in there?" Zeus knocked on Quimora's door thrice but got no response. As the door creaked open, he noticed the sorrowful figure of Quimora sitting on her bed, isolated. Her melancholic gaze pierced through the dimness of her thoughts.
"Quimora, are you alright?" Zeus asked as he sat beside Quimora.
"Brother…" Quimora wept, resting her head over her brother's chest. "I only wanted to help…"
"Is this about father's affairs? Don't worry about that, Quimora. I'm sure our father will find a way to resolve this. Your help is highly appreciated. Just do what you think is right."
Who is this man!? He speaks like a customer service representative who had a harem in his bedroom. Since this man isn't blood-related, should I be worried? I thought.
Quimora replied, "... I don't want to lose this family."
"Me too… But you can always count on me, Quimora. If you need further help, don't hesitate to call me. I'm always right next door."
As Zeus left the room, those last words marked warmth through Quimora's heart. For an incest route, I personally disliked that guy.
I don't like where this is going.