Chapter Thirty-Six: The Difference Between A Villainess and A Heroine.
1917 Words
Regina Lione Alpensa
“Y-yes!” Regina cleared her throat, “Yes! Get a person with authority to punish the maid.”
She had authority!
To Regina, it grew apparent that Arusei would finally inform her of the case for her sole judgement.
Or if not her, perhaps father?
“Hmm, the prince…is he still around?” Arusei drawled.
Regina’s heart dropped to her stomach.
‘The prince? Why? Why would you contact him? What makes you confident he will respond to you, let alone take your side on the matter, considering he was nothing but cold to me!’
All questions Regina wished to utter, but the words would not graze her tongue.
For if she said them… if she expressed her insecurity over capturing his highness with an enchanting first impression, then-
Arusei’s gaze dropped to the maid, and a cold smile dressed her face.
“Should I write to him? I mean, it might take longer; still…you will most probably end up losing both your hands, but you know…justice will prevail in the end.”
How! How could Arusei enjoy toying with another’s life like that?!
The nature of Regina’s illness had taught her the value of one’s life; hence, the topic made her keener than others where its threat was concerned!
What can a maid do without hands! Is it not the same as killing them?
And for what? What could be the reason that she would shove dry loaf in another’s mouth?
How deranged must one grow for that to be their go-to?
“Sister, if you could just-,”
Regina tried to persuade Arusei, but the maid on her knees was too fear-stricken to trust that she, the real daughter of the house, would save her.
“M-my lady, I was wrong! Please! Please! I made a grave mistake!!”
“What? You did?”
Arusei’s surprise did not sound genuine.
“But, even if you admit that…what can we do about it? The lady of the house said I lack the proper authority to punish you.”
“Please, please punish me! Punish me. I was wrong!”
The maid clamoured to Arusei’s dress, and like a predator with her prey, she stroked the maid's cheek.
It was time to try another tactic.
“You cannot do that! Father will not let you harm anyone of-,”
“Please, my lady, please punish me!!”
Why?
Why did the maid not believe in her?
“Oooh, hush now, it’s not my fault you’ll live without hands. I mean…you tried to serve me dishwater and ground glass. What would happen to my fragile body?”
Dishwater?
Was that what she was served, or is she making things up, like Bernadette said?
Everything else was correct; she did flaunt power that wasn’t hers!
If she were the crown princess, then…
“Please, my lady.”
The maid was in tears now.
A woman near twice Arusei’s age was on her knees in tears, begging to be punished.
“What do I do?” Arusei lifted her gaze to Regina’s, “I have no intention of overlooking this matter, yet I am not permitted to punish her myself…aw..this poor baby is going to-.”
‘Lies! It will not be my fault!’
Regina wanted to scream, but there was something dangerous about Arusei’s words.
With her eyes red and cheeks wet, the maid glowered at Regina as if to say, ‘if I die, it will be in your hands!’
Was it not apparent that she was her saviour?
It was evident, was it not?
“Please, my lady,” the maid finally spoke to Regina, “Please let her punish me!”
Regina, for a moment too long, hesitated.
She knew the correct answer; rather, she knew the only answer. Not because she arrived at it by herself, but because with little but mockery, Arusei had cornered her to it.
“I will allow you to punish her.”
Regina said through the bile rising in her stomach.
“Lift your head.”
The maid did as she was told.
“I want you to count, okay?”
The maid nodded.
Slap!
Regina was slightly relieved that the maid’s punishment was just simple slaps, but when her pale cheek turned rosy, she remembered Bernadette’s words.
‘Unlike you, my lady, whose body was too weak for training, Arusei impressed the Marquis by training under the strongest knight in the Estate, Sir Castile.’
Slap!
Again Arusei struck the maid on the same cheek.
Slap!
And again…but this time, the maid let out a yelp.
The redness darkened steadily as if the skin in the area threatened to rupture all to ease circulation.
Slap!
The sound echoed continuously until the maid finally spoke.
“I-I am sorry. P-p-please…”
“Is that not enough, sister?!”
Regina cried desperately on her behalf, as though it were her face that ached.
“How can that be enough when she was not counting?” Arusei asked, a genuine expression of shock on her face, “I’m not even sure what number I was on…oh well… I might as well start over.”
It was weird.
Regina could swear that Arusei said nothing more beyond that.
But in the crevices of her mind, she could almost swear she said:
‘Look here, sister…!
‘Here lies the difference between the hero and the villain, the heroine and the villainess.
While you are designed for saving in the light, I am devised for freedom in the dark.
Yet wherever it lies...I will find it, while you, will wait until it is granted.
Like a good little girl.’
*
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Breca
“What is a commoner doing in this section?”
“I- I was summoned by-,”
“By who?”
A blonde-haired and peach-eyed girl questioned rudely as she crossed her arms over her chest.
This must be about the ‘Priscilla rule’ or whatever…
It wasn’t a rule that affected commoners as much as nobility, because most commoners were content to live in simplicity.
Because of its low affectation on the commoners, the law was never contested and hence this…
How would she get to Lady Alpensa?
This was the fourth day, and she hadn't heard a word from her.
Had the lady stiffed her?
“If you must know, I was summoned by Lady Alpensa.”
“Nice try!”
The blonde haired’s posse member yelled from the back.
“The lady went home!”
“Gods Gretchen! Can’t you shut up!”
The clear leader reprimanded.
The lady went home?
F*ck!
Breca turned on her heel then descended the stairs to the ground floor occupied by her people, otherwise regarded as commoners.
“Where are you going, liar!”
The blonde called after her, but it was easy to ignore her.
The same law that preserved their pretension ruled as their limit.
With this, Breca was certain.
She was lied to, and again, abandoned.
‘Abandoned?’
She rubbed her chest, then sighed.
What an odd thought that was.
How can you be ‘abandoned’ by someone you barely know? Just the sound of it felt preposterous to her.
She was overreacting.
Breca opened the door to her room, then slumped on her bed.
She had a roommate, but there was no sign of her in the room.
She reached under her pillow then pulled out the art piece the lady had given her.
“Grey Gildoff…”
She traced the silver and gold imbedded artists’ symbol at the corner of the painting, then sighed.
It was breathtaking.
A piece that could sell for millions if auctioned, yet…she could not bring herself to actually ‘sell it’.
“A painting of the Alpensa estate….”
She muttered to herself.
But gods, how different would it have been for her and Kat if they had grown up wealthy?
Alden, was still Alden.
He still dreamed of dedicating his life to the mage scholarly, meaning as soon as he was through with his alchemy studies, he would be off to the northern continent.
She could paint, but who could ever back a commoner with unknown origin?
She stroked the painting once more, then instead of letting out her usual sigh, Breca stilled.
“Oh, Gods!”
Hurriedly, she stood from her bed, then grabbed her painting supplies.
“You stupid noble! Do you think everyone thinks like you?”
*
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*
Arusei Evergreen Alpensa
It was near midnight now, the palm of my hand still felt sensitive, but I managed to finish my bath with ease.
The Marquis was still not home yet, so I was yet to get into more trouble.
After the incident, I was given actual food, not that I ate it; I’d much rather eat from an inn infested with…okay, maybe not infested, but like an inn.
Which sounds pretty okay said out loud, but I was raised by nobility into nobility.
So… my scale is a bit off.
Eating street food is adventurous at this point.
Still, it would be nice to know exactly which head was empowering the servants into testing my patience.
With my public fall out with the marquis, it is only a matter of time before they find a way to retaliate.
“What the hell am I doing?”
I stared at my feet, then closed my eyes.
I sent the internal mana colouring green in my minds’ eyes to my legs, and a warm feeling claimed my soles.
I could feel the cracks sealing and the excess dead skin being replaced.
Soon, my feet were as good as new.
I untied the wet bandages, then left them carelessly on the floor and moved to the mirror.
My hair looked overgrown, yet still, it maintained its neatness, a useless feature where I would go next.
I slid my hair that tumbled wetly down to my feet over my shoulder, then twisted the mass I held.
I took the scissors from my dresser, and I snipped the mass off in a moment of extreme bravery.
The remaining hair was uneven, jagged and…curly.
The back was cropped while the front remained uneven.
“Well…this…this is quite obviously a disaster.”
I raked my hair, surprised by the lightness of its texture.
“I feel like this would have been better if this was a movie.”
“Still, it's fluffy…fluffy equals good.”
Satisfied, I walked to my desk where the parcel I received rested.
As per the messenger’s instructions, I placed my hand on the parcel.
“I am Arusei Evergreen, currently fifteen years old.”
The package glowed, then a pattern formed before me in runic symbols.
{Conditions for parcel opening are as follows:
1. Arusei Evergreen Alpensa must be nineteen (19) years of age.
2. Arusei Evergreen Alpensa must swear fealty to the reigning Emperor of Norvig}
{By opening the parcel, it means:
1. Arusei Evergreen Alpensa has been knighted by the Reigning Emperor of Norvig.
2. Arusei Evergreen Alpensa has agreed to participate in three (3) wars in the name of the Empire.}
“This…this type of contract should be illegal!”
I frowned, then sighed.
The trees on my side of the castle rustled mightily.
To anyone other than me, it sounded like the warning of a storm.
However, as clear as day, the trees sang of an Ally emerging through a painting.
“Breca is here!!”
Finally…it is time to leave.
- Writer
