The Honeysuckle estate was in disarray when we returned. It seemed that someone had stolen the last obsidian crown, a symbol of house Honeysuckle's once royal status. The maids all knelt with their heads pressed to the ground as the head butler pleaded with Marquese Honeysuckle.
Contrary to its name, the Honeysuckle family had nothing sweet about it. If anything, they were bitter, especially since not a single member had been selected as the next crown princess in the last two decades.
Once upon a time, every household held the Honeysuckle name with the highest regard. After all, it produced three of the first Queen the Kingdom had ever seen.
But with time, others began to vie for the position, leading to a decline. It did not help that up until this point, every female born in the Honeysuckle clan died in infancy.
Lady Gardenia Honeysuckle had been the hope of her family, that is until she became crippled at the young age of five. While the Honeysuckle clan had once been a grand military family that produced three Queens, now they solely lived off old money and were nearing decline.
Thus, it is understandably sad that Lady Gardenia was forgotten by her household once she could no longer walk and rarely spoke.
But one cannot control fate.
The Marquise and Marchione's looked as if a ghost stood before them. Forgotten was the matter of the obsidian crown.
"Whatever is the matter?" Lady Gardenia walked past the kneeling servants; even the Buttler stood speechless as she ascended the stairs. "If someone could bring dinner to my chamber, that would be greatly appreciated."
When the Marquise and Marchioness regained composure, Lady Gardenia had already reached the top of the stairs—a trail of mud left in her wake.
Lady Gardenia looked down towards the servants, ignoring the baffled looks on her parent's faces, "If you are done, I need a warm bath."
When the servants did not respond, she turned her icy gaze towards her parents, "Well, am I to remain in these muddied and cold clothes? Hurry and let them return to their task." The command in Lady Gardenia's voice sent a chill down the Marchioness's spine, prompting her to whisper, "Whatever that thing is, it is not a child born from me."
Even though Lady Gardenia had already made it halfway down the hall, she heard her mother's whispers and could not help but laugh. Interestingly, when the original Gardenia lived, everyone treated her as a ghost, but now her mother could sense a shift in her child. Could it be motherly intuition? Gardenia wondered as she burst open the doors to her eldest sister's room, which was never used yet always maintained with the utmost care. As if the owner would one day return.
Well, now it had a new owner, "From now on, this will be my chamber," Lady Gardenia proclaimed. Her eldest sister's chamber was the only one maintained as if she had ever truly existed. The eldest daughter had been a miscarriage. The second eldest fell from a window while the third drowned in the river, yet Gardenia, her mother's secret love child, had somehow survived, leading the Marchioness to believe that perhaps her husband's bloodline was cursed.
Yes, that was perceived as the only logical explanation and used to justify her infidelity. Granted, the Marchesi was no saint, for he too had three sons, each with a different Mistress, and he used this to prove his bloodline was not cursed.
Luckily, the Marquise's desire to sit a child of house Honeysuckle on the throne allowed Lady Gardenia to continue her existence. That is, except for all the attempted assassinations disguised as accidents.
One could argue that they truly were accidents, but to believe that, one would also need to believe the world is flat.
The Marchioness burst into the room, ready to drag Lady Gardenia out of her beloved first daughter's room. One look from Gardenia froze the Marchioness's hand mid-air. She really could not move. It was as if an iron hand was holding her back.
"What sorcery have you learned?" The Marchioness screamed, but no one answered.
It was interesting to see the true face of House Honeysuckle, for the public believed them to be the epitome of etiquette. Even in decline, they were a role model for society.
Lady Gardenia whore the look of a bored cat as she looked at her mother, "The same one you used to birth me." With that, the Marchioness was sent flying out of the room, the door slamming shut as she went. When the servants arrived, they found the Marchioness pale as a ghost.
Could the thing inside her firstborn's room know of her true origin? The Marchioness pondered, still unable to move. But she had erased all trace of the demon she fornicated with. The child had even been tested, and the Sorceress that assisted with the birth had reassured her that no trace of her demon origin had remained.
Yet the thing inside her daughter's room had that same bone-chilling gaze and iridescent beauty.
The Marchioness had attempted to correct her mistake many a time but failed. It seemed this final attempt had awakened something that should have stayed dormant. If she were to tell her husband, would he understand? More than likely not, the Marchioness thought as she finally dusted herself off and headed to the drawing room. If she could do one last thing, it would be to end House Gerard; a letter of marriage was sent out with great urgency.
The Marchioness believed she could send all misfortune to her ex-lover's child. Thus, a letter on behalf of Lady Gardenia stating that House Honeysuckle proposed a marriage between House Gerard and House Honeysuckle to unite their military might and expand trade was sent out.
Of course, everyone knew House Honeysuckle was in decline, but to marry a child of such an esteemed name was still greatly sought, especially if there was a chance that child could one day become Queen.
It was unknown to the Marchioness that all she had done was help her daughter with the first part of her plan for revenge.