𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐑𝐎𝐀

She wasn't crying. She was just a child sitting on the cold floor of the room, hugging her knees to her chest, counting the lines on the floorboards. One... two... three... Whenever the screams grew louder behind the door, she would lose her count and start all over again. "Look at her!" The sound of something shattering echoed. "Look at her black hair! Her eyes! Even her skin! Is this truly my daughter?" It was her father's voice. "She... she doesn't even possess magic." Everything fell silent. Even the child’s breath, which she had been holding as she eavesdropped, stopped. Then, suddenly—the door swung open violently. She did not raise her head; she knew what would happen if she did. She remained still until she sensed someone approaching, carrying a heavy scent of perfume. "Stand up." She looked up. It was her mother. Roa stood, gazing at her beautiful mother, who looked nothing like her. Her mother grabbed her chin firmly. "Just... tell me... who do you look like?" The child couldn't answer. For her silence, she received a blow so powerful it made her body stagger, yet she did not fall. "Because of you..." her mother's voice trembled, growing weak. "Because of you... I have lost everything." The child looked past her mother and saw her father watching from a distance. He didn't approach. He didn't even look at her. In that moment, despite her young age, the child realized her very existence was a sin. She looked at her parents quietly and thought of one thing: If I disappeared... would everything go back to the way it was? Her mother, the Empress, left her and approached her husband. It was the first time the child had ever seen her mother so weak. She watched as her mother collapsed to her knees, her voice hoarse and trembling. "I swear to you... I never betrayed you." He looked down at her coldly. "You know... it is impossible for this child to be mine." The Empress clung to his robes. "If it's the magic you mean, it doesn't always manifest in childhood! You know that... sometimes it’s delayed." She looked at him with bloodshot, pleading eyes. He smiled mockingly. "Just the magic? She has black hair, black eyes, and tan skin." He looked back at the woman kneeling before him. "She doesn't even look like you." The Emperor suspected the Empress of infidelity because their daughter shared no resemblance to either of them. While he had golden hair and green eyes, and the Empress had red hair and blue eyes—both with porcelain skin—the child was ordinary, with darker hair and slightly tanned skin. "I told you, she is your child!" she screamed. Her eyes widened, her lips quivering. "Stop accusing me! You're hurting me!" "It is the truth." He let out a short laugh, leaning down until his eyes were level with her tear-stained ones. "And my betrayal... is unforgivable, Lizerin." "I never betrayed you..." she whispered. "No man but you has ever touched me." He smiled a cold, heartless smile. "That’s what all traitors say." She reached out to touch his face, but he stood abruptly and stepped back, as if she were a contagion. "I am divorcing you," he said simply. "Truly?.." "Tomorrow, you will no longer be the Empress. You will simply be Lizerin." He left, leaving Lizerin prostrate on the floor. Roa didn't dare approach to comfort her; she knew she was the cause of this ruin. She left the room, leaving her mother alone. That night was a heavy burden for Lizerin, Theodore, and little Roa. The next morning, Lizerin awoke to the sound of drums and celebration. Her heart pounded as she rushed to the window, pulling back the curtains with trembling hands. Decorations filled the square. Nobles arrived in their finest attire. A wedding? A pale maid entered, her head bowed in pity. "The Empress..." she hesitated, then whispered, "The Emperor... was married today." Something inside Lizerin shattered. "Today?.." Before the maid could speak, a guard entered behind her. "I have a message from the Emperor. Lizerin, you are no longer his wife." He paused. "But his mistress." The blood froze in her veins. "What?" "He will not allow you to leave the palace. You will remain here as the Emperor's mistress—a concubine to be summoned whenever he desires." She stared in shock. The only man she ever loved had just humiliated her completely. In a single day, he had stripped her of her crown, erased her name, and branded her a servant while he married another. She looked out the window again at the woman in white—golden hair, brown eyes, smiling brightly at the crowds. The new Empress. Lizerin closed the curtains and ordered everyone out. When Roa entered, her mother turned to her with a hollow, frozen gaze the child didn't recognize. "You..." the word came out like venom. Roa instinctively stepped back. "Because of you... I lost my life. I lost the man I loved." Roa held her hands to her chest, trying to shield herself. "Mommy..." That word snapped something in Lizerin. She lost her mind. She lunged at her daughter, raining down blows. Slaps followed, a desperate, maddened attempt to bruise and erase the child’s face. "Stop!" Roa screamed. "I... I didn't do anything!" But the blows didn't stop, even though Lizerin was sobbing, her tears falling onto Roa. "If only you hadn't been born!" she gasped. "If only you weren't like this!" Roa tried to protect her head with her arms, but she was no match for her mother. How could a five-year-old defend herself against the broken rage of a woman? Lizerin emptied her collapse into Roa’s body until the child stopped crying. Roa lay there, staring at her mother with a still body and wide, vacant eyes. She no longer felt the physical pain; she was thinking of only one thing: If my mother hates me... who could ever love me? Lizerin finally stopped, her hands shaking as she looked at what she had done. she walked out of the room, leaving the child alone, staring at the ceiling, devoid of any reaction.