The Rejected Omega

"Take all this firewood to the back kitchen now, Michel." The voice came from one of the guards stationed in the main hall. He didn't even turn to look at me as he spoke. I adjusted the pile of wood in my arms and made my way down the side corridor. "Hey, Michel." I stopped. The guard pointed at the floor near his feet. Several pieces of firewood had fallen from my pile. "You left some behind." I glanced at the scattered wood, then bent down to pick it up. "Don't take too long. You're not the only servant here." I nodded and continued on my way. That was what my days at the main estate were like. One task followed another, and whenever I finished one, someone else always found something for me to do. If I moved too slowly, they scolded me. If I tried to explain myself, they accused me of talking back. So I chose to remain silent. At least that way, I could finish my work without causing any more trouble. As I crossed the central courtyard, I came to a halt. Three noblewomen were standing near the stairs. One of them was the daughter of the local council leader. I often saw her wandering around the estate, especially when the servants were busy carrying things. "Well, look who's coming," she said with a faint smile. "Our little hero, always so busy." Her two companions laughed. I tried to keep walking without responding. The back kitchen was waiting, and I didn't want to give them another reason to hold me up. However, one of the women deliberately stepped into my path and stretched out her leg. My foot caught against it. The firewood slipped from my arms and scattered across the ground. My knees slammed against the stone floor. "Oops, sorry," the woman said. "You should be more careful when carrying things that belong to the pack. If that wood gets dirty, you'll have to clean it all over again." I kept my head down and gathered the pieces one by one, my hands trembling as I struggled to contain my anger. Of course. Who else was going to clean up the mess if not me? I wanted to curse at them. I wanted to look up and say something that would wipe those irritating smiles off their faces. But the words remained trapped inside my head. I knew they were waiting for me to react. If I talked back, they would have another excuse to torment me. I held my breath and continued collecting the firewood, one piece at a time. Their laughter rang out above me. "At least she knows how to kneel," one of her companions remarked. I tightened my grip on a piece of wood. Don't engage with them. Finish your work and leave. I had repeated those words to myself countless times. Usually, they were enough to make me swallow my anger and get back to work. But that day, as I bent down to pick up the last piece of firewood, something slipped out from beneath the folds of my inner garment. My mother's old pendant. I hurriedly reached for it, but the woman from earlier stepped on its chain before I could retrieve it. "What's this?" She bent down and picked up the pendant. I immediately got to my feet. "Give it back." The woman looked at me, then smiled. "Oh? So you do have something precious enough to make you speak up." "It's mine." "Did I ask?" She held the pendant up to her face, tilting it from side to side. Its engraving had faded, and the chain looked anything but luxurious. "You take such good care of something this cheap?" She chuckled. "Is it a family heirloom or something?" I didn't answer. My mother had given it to me before she died. I could still remember her hand clasping mine as she placed it in my palm, along with the way she'd asked me to take good care of it. Since that day, I'd never let anyone take it away from me. "That has nothing to do with you," I said. "Just give it back." The woman raised an eyebrow. "Are you giving me orders?" Her two companions burst out laughing again. I glanced at the hand holding my pendant. I was only one step away from getting it back. But I knew she wouldn't let me take it that easily. "All right," she said suddenly. "If you really want it, get on your knees and ask nicely." I froze. "What?" "You heard me." She dangled the pendant between her fingers. "Kneel and ask. Who knows? Maybe I'll feel generous today." Her two companions were already laughing before she had even finished speaking. I looked at them one by one. They didn't need a reason to humiliate me. All they needed was to make sure I couldn't fight back. "Are you deaf?" the woman asked, shaking the pendant. "Hurry up. I don't have all day." I clenched my fists. If I refused, she might keep the pendant. If I obeyed, they would laugh at me and bring it up every time we crossed paths. No matter what I chose, they would get exactly what they wanted. Slowly, I began to bend my knees. Their laughter grew louder. But before my knees could touch the ground, I stopped. No. Why should I have to do this? I'd been keeping my head down since morning. I'd carried out every order they'd given me, picked up the firewood they'd deliberately knocked to the ground, and even apologized for things I hadn't done. And now, they wanted me to kneel just to get back the only thing my mother had left me? "I said kneel!" the woman snapped. I raised my head. "Give me back my pendant." Her smile disappeared for a moment. Then she let out a short laugh. "So you really do want to cause trouble." She tightened her grip on the pendant with one hand while raising the other in front of me. "I'll give you one more chance. Kneel and apologize for your insolence. After that, maybe I'll give it back." I stared at the pendant in her hand. It felt as though something were squeezing my chest. It wasn't just the thought of losing it that hurt. I knew she was doing this on purpose. She knew how much the pendant meant to me, and that was precisely why she kept using it to torment me. "Don't," I said. The woman frowned. "What?" "Don't break it." I hadn't even realized my voice had changed. The words came out on their own, quieter than I'd intended. For a moment, she simply stared at me. Then a wide smile spread across her face again. "Oh, so this thing really is important to you." She raised the pendant higher. "Then you should've taken better care of your belongings." I stepped forward. "Give it back." She tilted her head, pretending to consider my request. Then she glanced at her two companions before turning back to me. "Too bad. I've changed my mind." Her fingers began to curl around the pendant. I lunged forward to snatch it from her. In a matter of seconds, the old pendant bent and broke into several pieces inside her clenched fist. She then opened her hand and let the mangled fragments fall to the ground at my feet. "Oops. My hand slipped," she said casually. My blood boiled in an instant. The broken pieces of the pendant fell one after another onto the ground. I stared at them without moving. For several seconds, their laughter sounded as though it were coming from somewhere far away. I couldn't even force myself to bend down and pick up the pieces. It was broken. The only thing my mother had left me, destroyed by someone who didn't even consider it worth anything. I remembered what my mother had said when she gave me the pendant. I couldn't recall every word she'd spoken, but I still remembered how she'd asked me to take care of it. And now, I couldn't even manage to do that one simple thing. The woman standing in front of me was still smiling. "What's wrong? Going to cry?" Something inside me finally snapped. For years, I'd endured every insult and every bit of mistreatment they threw at me. I'd learned to keep my head down because I thought it was the only way to survive in this place. I'd let them take my time, my strength, and my dignity, bit by bit. But as I stared at the fragments of my mother's pendant scattered across the ground, I could no longer pretend that everything was fine. I stopped thinking about the punishment I might face. I stopped thinking about the woman's status or how much power she held. All I wanted was to make her stop. Without another thought, I stepped forward and clenched my fist. My punch landed squarely on her face. The impact snapped her head to the side. The smile vanished from her face instantly. She stumbled backward two steps, then pressed a palm against her cheek and stared at me with wide eyes. I stood frozen for a moment myself. I'd actually hit her. All this time, I hadn't even dared to answer back when they insulted me. Yet now, I'd just punched the daughter of the local council leader in the face. I knew perfectly well that my actions would bring serious trouble, but as I watched her clutch her cheek in disbelief, I felt none of the regret I was supposed to feel. At least, for once, she wasn't laughing at me. "How dare you lay a hand on someone from a respectable family?!" one of her companions shouted. I'd barely turned toward her when the woman I'd punched charged at me again. She grabbed the collar of my clothes and yanked me forward before driving her knee into my stomach. I doubled over. The air rushed out of my lungs, and my hands instinctively clamped around her arm. Before I could break free, a kick slammed into my ribs from the side. My body was hurled toward a stone pillar near the stairs. My back struck the hard surface, throwing me off balance. I fell, catching myself with one hand against the floor as my vision briefly blurred. "How dare you hit me!" I raised my head. The woman stood a few steps away, her face flushed with anger. One of her companions grabbed her arm as if trying to stop her from attacking me again, but she immediately shook her off. "You'll regret what you did!" I tried to push myself up onto one knee. Before I could straighten my body, the second woman kicked me in the shoulder, sending me crashing back to the ground. I gritted my teeth. Damn it. I knew they wouldn't let me walk away after what had just happened. But knowing something was coming and actually experiencing it were two entirely different things. A hand seized the back of my clothes. I immediately grabbed its wrist, trying to pry its fingers loose before a punch struck the side of my face. My head snapped to the side. I retaliated with an elbow to the person holding me. My elbow connected, forcing her to loosen her grip. I seized the opportunity to turn around and shove her away. For a brief moment, I'd managed to create some distance.