Chapter 76: The Sorrow Of A Millenia[1]

“D-disgrace…”

“…Monster”

“What a filthy child…”

“How could the first Lady have given birth to this deviant…”

“Worthless waste of space, useless piece of shit…”

“Why is she not in chains by now?”

The little girl stood in the middle of the large hall, she was about six and wore a white dress. Her hair was black which went down past her shoulders.

Her eyes were a light brown, she looked down at the ground as a dozen or so adults encircled her.

They threw harsh words at her, mocked her and her mother and glared at her as if they held themselves back from ripping her small body apart.

A man in his thirties entered the hall, the people present bowed before him and made a way for him to walk to the throne placed in the far end of the hall.

It was a throne bigger than the man, with cushions of the softest silks and armrests padded for comfort.

The chatter and the mockery died down with only his presence, he observed the people present without saying anything.

The girl stood in the middle like a statue and looked down at the carpet which covered the floor.

“Acheron.” He said with a firm and deep voice.

The little girl was startled, her body shook hard but she forced it to not shake that much. She looked up at the man who sat on the throne and gulped.

“Yes, father.” She replied, her voice barely audible for others but he heard it.

He studied his terrified daughter for a moment and a slight slime covered his face. “Did you drink your pet sparrow’s blood?” He asked, with a commanding voice which would force any of the people present into submission.

His gaze was not fixed on her despite her being the one brought in for interrogation and possible punishment, instead his eyes wandered to the mob who awaited his daughter’s ruin.

Jealous concubines of his alongside the wives he was forced to marry for political reasons, had a hunger in their eyes, much vile than anything he had seen.

A grudge against someone comes a long way, born from the deceased first wife and being the eldest of the man’s children, they hated her just as they hated her mother.

“Acheron, don’t do something like this again.” He paused and tilted his stare into her eyes which trembled in fear.

Her tears were barely at bay, if he spoke more then they’d spill out. “You can go back to your chambers.” He said and leaned his head back against the throne.

When she was out of the room a sudden noise erupted from the people present, an annoyed expression formed on the man’s face.

A guard from his right walked forward and coughed loudly, “where are your manners in front, His Majesty?” He declared, tall, imperious and an eagle of a man.

The noise from the crowd dwindled into whispers. A man walked forward and knelt in front of the man who sat on the throne.

He was the King of the Voltaris Empire, King Gerard. The man lowered his head down as if he wanted to confess his sins.

“Your Majesty, I come to you today to ask you for punishment for the first princess. If she’s left like this, the incident might reoccur…and this time it might not be a bird.” The man said as if Acheron was a monster who would devour them alive if not taken care of.

Gerard’s face twitched as he heard the man have the gall to take about giving his daughter, the first princess punishment.

The guard took notice of it and stepped a few more steps forward and unsheathed his sword.

“You dare disrespect the first princess right in front of His Majesty! When did the dogs of the Zaltan’s get this many balls?” He declared and prepared himself to take off his neck in one swing of his sword.

“Stop, don’t kill him.” The guard stepped back and sheathed his sword. “The dog of the Zaltan’s, you’re forgetting I took you in solely because I was indebted to your father. He is dead now, I could kill you right now but he was my mentor and I wouldn’t harm a family member of his.”

He declared, his voice reverberating inside everyone’s ears. “She’s just a child, stop this useless hatred. I kept quiet when you murdered my wife, I won’t stand by this as well.”

The others came forward but he raised his hand and got up from his throne. He left the hall while being escorted by the guard.

*****

Seasons changed, summer became winter and the world got covered by thick snow. Acheron was now a head taller, it had been two years since that horrific incident.

After that day she was detached from the world, she often spent days inside her chambers. She also didn’t speak much, only a few words here and there.

She had just finished her session with a tutor. A maid brought a coat lined with fur, both on the inside and the outside and made her wear it.

As soon as she did, she bolted towards the little garden outside her chambers. Snow covered the grass and the trees, she ran through the snow and then stumbled and fell on it.

The maid rushed towards her and made her sit up, she saw a wide smile on Acheron’s face, one she had missed ever since that day.

“My Lady, look at your smile again. Thank the lords.” She muttered but it was enough for Acheron to hear it.

She looked at the maid but there was something off about her, her smile was genuine but her face…she couldn’t see it.

Was it perhaps her eyes tricking her or had she finally gone mad that she couldn’t even see the face of the woman who treated Acheron like her own child.

Suddenly her heart beat spiked, she felt anxious but she couldn’t do anything about it. The talk about her smile brought back the suffocation she felt on that day.

It became painful for her to breath, she gasped for air, and the maid quickly grabbed her and checked her. There was nothing wrong but she couldn’t understand what had happened.

After sometime when Acheron was alright, she looked at the maid who held her close as if a mother who protected her child against something.

“I-Is it wrong…”

“Hmm? Did you say anything, My Lady?” The maid asked.

“I-is it really wrong…to need what my heart craves…” She said in a low voice.

The maid was shocked when she heard that, she didn’t know what to tell her. She was in the same position as her.

“Is it that wrong for me to do what I love? Everyone gets to do the things they like…s-so….why not me?” She said as her voice cracked towards the end.

“Why is it that I was told to not do that again…blood…it is beautiful…I didn’t hurt anyone…the sparrow was already going to die…I loved it…so I put it out of its misery.” She continued as tears fell from her eyes.

The maid kept quiet, how could she answer a troubled child. The only thing she could do was embrace her in a hug.

*****

Just like the seasons, thrones were not eternal. A sudden cold landed the king into bedrest, the first prize was put on the throne as an interim king until his father got better.

He was a year younger than Acheron, his mother was the second Lady of the Voltaris Empire and the daughter of the Duke of Zaltan.

Gerard’s condition worsened day by day, rumors of him dying soon spread across the whole empire, even into the Elven, Lich and the Mermen Empires.

Now the second wife had full freedom to do whatever she wanted as the mother of the interim king as he was a child.

The jealousy, the hatred had grown so much that it would raze the Voltaris Empire to the ground if left unchecked.

Acheron had finished a session with her tutor and lay on her bed as she read a story about a girl living a normal life with her parents.

Her own parents came to her mind. Her mother was dead and her father was on death’s door.

She didn’t like it, she wanted to have a normal life, with no interference but it was too late for that.

She brought her arm to her mouth and pushed her teeth into the cut she made earlier, blood rushed out of it and into her mouth.

If she couldn’t suck it from a dead bird, she would do it from her own body. But little did she know that this day would be the start of everything.

As she’s indulged in sucking her own blood, with a loud crash the door of her room breaks into pieces.

A tall man covered in black armor stands in place of the door, behind him a dozen or so more knights.

From within the knights came out the second Lady, she saw her drinking her own blood.

“Disgusting vermin, arrest her and throw her into the dungeons.” She ordered.

Acheron looked at her in horror before her world became dark as the tall man lightly chopped her neck with his hand.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep