Marinl Stringfray is a proud noble, through and through. It is in her blood, her proud background, her beautiful appearance, everything about her is different than those peasant, she was born to stand above the commoner, it was her birthright and a fact. Right now, she was wearing her favorite dress and her favorite shoes, a bowl of merr berry was placed at a coffee table beside her, and it was her favorite snack too.
All of this still didn’t lift up her sour mood.
She picked a berry and ate it, her eyes wander to the group of servants lining up beside her, ready to serve her at any moment. Their head was tilted low, afraid to meet their mistress eyes. Marinl gaze focused on a single servant, a maid with a ponytail, the maid has a wheat colored hair and a pair of dark brown eyes.
The maid currently was terrified by her mistress intense gazes, sweat trickled down from her forehead. Her mistress is cruel to those servants, everybody working in this mansion know about it, and whomever to be noticed by the mistress spell doom to them.
The reason for Marinl gaze was because she has never seen the maid before, a new maid has been posted as her servants and her particularly terrified face has amused her. Marinl reached the tea beside her, her finger brushed the teacup carefully, then pushed it from the table.
The teacup fell to the floor and shattered, the content inside spilled out and soaked the carpet. Her group of servants was calm, as if anticipated this kind of behavior from Marinl. But the new maid seems to be surprised and flinched, unfortunately, the maid's eyes meet her mistress eyes. The maid immediately regretted it after seeing her mistress smile.
Marinl stopped the other servants from cleaning up the shattered cup, she pointed the new maid to do it instead. The maid gingerly abided her mistress order and walked to the broken cup, she crouched down and her hand was reaching toward a piece of the teacup shards. Suddenly, a foot ruthlessly stepped down on the maid's hands, the shards immediately pierced the flesh and blood poured out from the wound.
"Arrghh!" The maid moaned from pain, she was trembling and tears are slowly forming from the corner of her eyes. Still, the foot on top of her hand never loosened and instead, increased in intensity.
"Hey, what is your name?" Marinl questioned the maid with a smile on her face.
"Ugh.., its, its Piona, miss Marinl.." The maid answered in pain, the group of servants could only watch her from the sideline, although they pity her, nobody makes a move to save her.
"I see, Piona, do you know why I did this to you?" Marinl put a berry inside her mouth, the berry popped and the sweet juice filling her mouth. The maid, Piona, shakes her head.
"Because you had been impolite to me, who says you could lift your head, hmm?" The maid was trembling and couldn't do anything before Marinl, a noble, her mood became slightly better than before.
"Hmpph, I will forgive you this time, leave." Marinl retracts her foot from the maid's hands. The maid thanked for her mistress benevolent and left the room in hurry with a bleeding hand.
The other servant cleaned the mess and Marinl stood up, left her room, two servants accompanied her. She walked to the upper level of the mansion, where her father resides. Two servants were standing in front of a lavish door, they bowed when they saw Marinl and opened the door for her. She stepped inside and the smell of ink and books waved over her.
Her father was sitting in his chair with lots of paperwork in his desk, he seems tired and the dark circle adorned his eyes, another person was with him, Marinl frowned her eyebrows, her mood instantly soured again, because the man which was talking with her father was that damned person, Ambrose!
"Aah, here you are my dear daughter, come." His father golden eyes noticed her and beckoned her. She walked until she was in front of her father and glared at the impudent adventurer besides her.
Marinl is a mage, with her noble blood, she naturally has higher affinity with element than the commoner. Her magic teacher also praised her as a genius, as she was able to learn spell faster than her friends with the same age. Her power swelling her proud ego, she tried to see how she will fare against the monster, her father has disagreed with her plan but she managed to persuade him anyway.
But her plan went downhill when one of the adventurers her father hired died, the monsters started to overwhelming them with their number. One of them even betrayed her and ran away! But the most frustrating thing is the collarless beastman she saw yesterday.
She ordered the soldier to capture it, but the beast suddenly appeared as a human before her, and the guard captain reported the poacher confirmed the child as a human. With no evidence, Marinl could only let them go with frustration. After all, the only who saw that child true form is Marinl and that accursed person, Ambrose, which is helping that child somehow.
"Marinl." His father sighed, "Yesterday, I heard you had strayed away from the path and walked around by yourself without listening to the adventurer? You do know the forest is dangerous right? Especially for a mage like us, I hope you learn your lesson from this." His father stared at her with disappointment, Marinl gritted her teeth, things weren't supposed to go like this!
"...yes father." Marinl replied her father nonetheless, her father nodded and pulled out a letter from his desk, the letter was sealed with wax and stamped with a familiar symbol for her. He pushed the letter across the desk toward her, Marinl opened the letter and widened her eyes when she looked at the content of the letter.
"You will attend the Everett Magic and Combat Academy next week, the form and the preparation are already done." Her father informed her with a tone that didn't accept any disagreement from her.
"But, father!" Marinl protested, but to no avail, her father only shakes her head and dismissed her. Marinl body was trembling in anger, she stomped her feet unfit for a lady and walked outside of the room.
The door closed, and the only one remained in the room was the city lord, Alberto Stringfray, and the silent adventurer, Ambrose. The city lord sighed once more, he leans in his chair and looked at Ambrose.
"That child tempers really resemble her mother, it must be hard to protect her huh, Ambrose?" The Lord smiled wryly at one of the few people he trusted, Ambrose only shakes his head at the city lord.
He has found him in the street, an ash haired child with ragged clothes, exhausted and starving, the child looked haven't eaten in days, the same as other children in the slum. But strangely, the child light grey eyes never dimmed with despair, instead shone with flaring determination. Maybe because of this particularity, he reached his hand toward the child and offer him to work at his mansion.
The child was not used working at the mansion at first, but adapted quickly, moreover, the child has a talent for combat and sharp intuition. So, he decided to train the child and Ambrose became his personal agent at the young age of teens. His aides have protested to him, employing a person with unknown background was dangerous they said. But in his eyes, the past is no concern of him, Ambrose has proven his worth and more loyal than anyone he knows.
The helpless child in the past has grown to become a fine young man before him. Although Ambrose has retired as his agent one year ago, they still maintained a friendly relationship with each other.
"Thank you for doing this for me, you have already retired as my agent, I'm grateful you will still heed my call." The city lord smiled fondly at his ex-agent, Ambrose could only scratch his head awkwardly.
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"It was fine, really, no need to thank me, I owe you a lot of things after all." Ambrose spokes to the lord truthfully, after all, the Lord saved his life once as a child. He was grateful to the lord as he never questioned his past and accepted him whole fully at his mansion.
"...Lord Alberto, I have done my job, then if there isn't anything else, I will excuse myself." Ambrose speaks after a moment of silence. The lord nodded his head and dismissed him. Ambrose walked to the door, and when his hand is touching the door, the Lord called him from behind with a serious face.
"Ambrose, if anything happened to me.... never mind, you can go." The Lord shakes his head, Ambrose felt something was amiss, but he didn't dwell on it too much and left the lord room.
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"Damn it, damn it, damn it!!" Shrieked Marinl in her room.
She scrunched up her dress in frustration, the chair and table have been kicked down in a fit of her anger. Her servants have been dismissed, she wants some time to be alone after all hearing what her father planned for her.
She plopped down on her bed, while her mind wanders to the institute her father sent her to. Everett Magic and Combat Academy are renowned for their unmatched ability in education, most of the prominent mages and knight came from there. Many nobles sent their children to the institute, so it should be normal that her father wants her to attend the academy.
But it annoyed Marinl, the fact that the academy accepts any races and anyone from different background as long they passed the admission test irritated the hell out of her. Status equal nothing and power reign it all. Marinl is confident in her ability as a mage, but because of the academy system, that means even a commoner will be able to stand beside her, no matter how slim the chance is.
Marinl gnawed her nail, she needs to talk to her father again, and she will persuade him no matter how it takes. Living with commoner is something that never crossed in her mind, she hates them with all of her soul.
"...mother." Marinl sighed, all of this event made her reminded of her mother, who is passed away when she was a child. She lay down on the bed and closed her eyes.
Her memory flashed and her mother face surfaced. As always, her mother is beautiful, her smile always brightens her mood when she was a child. She still remembered when her mother patted her head and praised her, when her mischief earns an earful of scolding, how her mother hugged her when she was sad and crying.
How her mother was killed.
Her father and mother are both good people, they are kind to the people around them, even to someone who was lower in status than them. Other noble families scorn them for their attitude being unfit for someone with a high status, but their family ignored them and continue to be kind and merciful. Oh, and how foolish it was.
It ended, her warm world ended with just a tick of a clock. The knife stabbed deep into her mother heart and her blood splashed into her childish faces. The commoner her mother gives kindness to responded in a cold, sharp, crazed eye.
"Unforgivable." Marinl griped her pillow tightly, she chanted the word over and over again, so that she won't forget it. The overwhelming emotion she felt that day, the despair and anger that consumed her child's hearts. And so, she slowly drifted to sleep, and her consciousness was gone to the dream world.
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TRANGGG!!!
"ugh... what, it so noisy, what time is it?" Marinl rubbed her sleepy eyes, a loud noise has waked her up. For her, it sounded like a breaking glass.
Her leg dangled down from her fluffy bed, she strides over the carpet and towards the door. Her hand touched the door handle, an unease washed over her, she hesitated, still, she opened the door and looked outside.
It was evening, the sunset light illuminates the corridor with an orange hue. Marinl looked left and right, no servant was in sight. She realized what has been making her uneasy. The silent. It was too quiet. Usually, at this time the servant will be busy preparing dinner and other stuff, but now, there wasn't even a soul in this place.
Marinl walked, trying to find anyone to ask about this abnormality. For a while, she didn't find anyone, then she decided to find her father, which should be still in his workrooms. Climbing up the stair to the third floor, her eyes captured a dark shadow leaning against the wall. Because of the lack of light, she couldn’t see it clearly.
"Who there? What are yo-" She walked closer, but her words were cut short by what she saw.
A bloodied maid with a knife stabbed at its heart. The maid's hand was bandaged around its palm, it was the new maid before, the one she talked and bullied. The maid's eyes were hollow and her face was in despair, blood keeps bleeding out from her chest and mouth. The maid was dead, the person in front of her is a corpse.
She instantly gaged from the scene, the stench of blood was filling her unbearably. She wanted to run, run away from this horrifying scene. Her feet staggered back, but then she remembered about her father.
Father.... Father!!!
She pushed down the urge to vomit and ran to her father study room. The closer she gets, the more corpses appeared in her vision. There was no evidence of battle, just like a marionette with their string cut, the corpses sprawled around the corridor with a clean stab on their vital. She ignored all of this and continue to ran.
The silent was overbearing, she was scared by this whole ordeal, but her worry for her father pushed her this far. Finally, she arrived in front of her father room, the usual guard standing outside was gone, she gulped and her hand trembled, slowly, she pushed the door open.
"...father?" She called for her father, her father room was dark, she blinked a few times until the darkness settled in.
"Aah! Isn't this our cute little lady!" Marinl jumped, surprised by the unusual happy tone, unbefitting with this whole situation, moreover, this voice isn't her father.
"Who, who are you?" Marinl stuttered, she was scared. Her usual proud character is nowhere to be seen. Her eyes darted left and right, searching the source of the voice.
Someone emerged from the darkness, a man clothed in black, in his head was a hat with matching color with his clothes, Marinl eyes darted down to his hand, which was a sword dripping with blood. The plain-faced man smile sends a shudder to her spine.
"Father.., where is my father?!!" Marinl raised her voice to this unknown man, which was getting familiar as time goes, she was sure she had met him somewhere before.
The man calmly walked to her, she noticed the man was holding something with his other hand. The man throws it in her direction and it lands in front of her with a thud. Marinl widened her eyes, and horror overcame her body. Her father was sprawled lifelessly with blank eyes, blood was pouring out from his mouth.
"No, no, father!!" Marinl kneeled beside his father and shake him. But her father didn't respond to her, instead, the blood staining both of her hand is an undeniable fact that her father won't respond to her ever again.
"Don't worry, I won't kill you. You will help me to catch an annoying stray." The man crouched and stared at the trembling figure of Marinl warmly. If stared closely, the right hand of the black-clothed man was injured, a deep slash wound dripping with blood. But the current state of Marinl was too in shock to notice such a thing.
"You... You..., I won't forgive you!!" Marinl shrieked and raised her right hand, mana was gathering at her and a spell was being constructed.
"Flame!! Gather an-, huh?" Her mouth stopped chanting and the gathering mana was dispersed. She has a dumbfounded face, the reason was that her right hand was lying on the floor, instead attached to her wrist.
"Uu, aaa, AAAAAAAARRRGGG, MY HAND, MY HAND!!!" Marinl screamed and crying from pain. Her right hand has been cleanly sliced off from her wrist, blood keep pouring out from her flesh and veins uncontrollably.
"Woah, calm down, can't have you go crazy with magic here. Sira, stop her bleeding." The man flicked his sword and blood splatted to the floor. Another person appeared from the darkness, a woman with cat ears and tail. She bowed to the man respectfully then walked to Marinl.
Marinl was panting hard, the fact her father was gone and losing her hand constitutively shook her mind greatly. She shrieked when the cat woman crouched beside her and forcefully grabbed her arm. She moaned from pain and surprised when the woman started to chant healing spell. But the cold gaze the woman directed to Marinl is enough to speak the hate she has to her.
When the woman, Sira, was done, she walked back to the man and stand slightly behind him, her loving gaze on the man back could be said as adoration and admiration. The man stood up and looked down on Marinl, who could do nothing and living on this man mercy.
"...why?..*sob, sob*, what do you want?" Marinl said with a cracked voice between her crying. The man suddenly stifled a laugh, then turning into a crazed laughter, which was only adding the feeling of terror for Marinl.
"Why huh, why? Why? Why?" He repeated the words many times. He walked deeper into the room, behind the city lord work desk, he opened the windows, revealing the moon hanging in the sky. The night wind blows inside the room and the numerous paper on the desk flutter to the air, only to land on the bloody floor.
The black cladded man took a deep breath and turned to face Marinl. With a smile that send a chill on Marinl spine, he opened his arms wide and stared at the now parentless girl trembling on the floor.
"Well, I just want to watch the city burn~♪"