Chapter VIII: Queen’s gambit

Wednesday. Three days after dad’s death.

I sat on my bed cross-legged as I played with Milo, an activity that was far easier than studying. My hand waved over the covers as he followed it with his head. Then, he suddenly leaped and grabbed it, hugging it with his paws and gently biting it. I giggled, caressing his belly with my other hand.

Then, Nelya got our of the bathroom, smiling at him as she finished buttoning her dress. “He really just chose to live with us, hm?”

“Yeah...Satomi will buy some food for him after she brings you at school.” I replied, rubbing under his chin. “I wonder who his owners are. I guess they miss him.”

“Well, if he ran away, he wasn’t happy with them.” She casually replied, grabbing her suitcase and heading out of her room. “See you this afternoon, bye.”

Life around the house was already calmer. Everyone was certainly still mourning, but they had responsibilities to take care of.

I didn’t even go to see Nelya off. Things between me and her became very awkward since that stupid thing I tried to do.

I got up from bed and sat on the desk, trying to study a little more. Milo sat right beside me, encouraging me.

As much as I liked feigning normalcy, it was clear that all I was waiting was Erika’s move, and soon sorrow, chaos and violence would have been smeared all over our home once more.

Someone knocked at the door just before I could start reading. I turned around...it was William.

“Hey. Just checking on you.” He said. “Ah, that’s the cat Satomi told me about. What a nice surprise he is!” His hand traveled across Milo’s back slowly, while he replied with a soft trill. “How cute.”

“Hm.” I nodded, smiling faintly.

“I noticed that things between you an Nelya are a little...cold.” He said. “I hope that you can smile to each other again, just like the old days.”

I stayed silent.

I knew that those days weren’t coming back. Be it what I did to her or the witch’s plan to vanquish this beautiful family.

“Mom is getting better already, by the way.” William added. “I was trying to plan something, and I wanted to ask you if you wanted to do something nice for mom.”

“What is it?” I looked up at him, Milo kept getting petted by his warm hand.

“I want to do something nice for her, I want to gather you, Nelya, Rosie, Anna and Kath and have lunch out in the balcony, since it's very warm outside now. What do you say, Lillya? Do you want to help me organize this little thing for her?"

“What about Gale and Vance?” I looked at him with sad eyes.

“They...they still aren’t back.” He reluctantly replied. “I guess they’re trying to get over their emotions before coming back. They don’t want you or Nelya to get influenced.”

“We’re not stupid, they should be back already.” I puffed my cheeks, huffing. “Alright, but what would a lunch out in the balcony accomplish?”

William smiled confidently, looking right into my eyes.

"Well, it's simple. Mom needs support and affection to go back to her feet, so we will show her that we're still together, as a family."

"And why can't we do that at the dining hall?"

"Because the dining hall has bad memories now." He replied. "Just imagine how mom feels when she looks at the chair your father used to sit on."

“Right.” I nodded. “Very well then, why not?”

It was all useless. All pointless.

But he looked so innocently hopeful that I smiled without a second thought.

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The ones who stayed at home finished lunch as usual and parted ways. Mom in her own room again, William at Rosie’s shop...while Erika was at the tree in the backyard.

I approached her and she turned around immediately, looking at me with half closed eyes.

“Hi Erika. How are you doing?” I asked her, sighing deeply. “Any news on the...ghost problem?”

“Huh, as if you cared about it.” She scoffed. “No, not at all.”

“I see.”

I noticed she gave up on asking for my help, even if she was blatantly still feeling the witch’s presence and had dad’s murder on her mind. I felt bad for her.

“What do you think about dad?” I asked her casually.

“If I told you about my thoughts, would you even believe me? Or would you go tell mom and make me look like the bad guy here?”

“H-Huh? W-What are you talking about?” I feigned ignorance.

“You know Lillya, I hate your guts. And I know you don't care about dad as much as I do. Your eyes are just as cold as I expected them to be. I was right about you since the start."

“E-Erika!” I pushed her against the trunk. “Take that back! Now!”

She widened her eyes. She’d have never expected such a reaction from me.

Her words were true, but they made me mad as hell. Because that coldness was imbued in my body by the witch, I didn’t nourish them by myself.

“I-If you really cared, YOU would have talked to mom. You would have given her a shoulder to cry on...instead you decided to stay all alone in your room. Doing what? Huh?!”

She gazed into my soul with frustration, staying silent.

“You stare at her so coldly…!” I added, my lips trembling.

She finally unfroze and pushed me aside, walking towards the mansion with forceful steps. “You stupid fool!” She grunted.

After she left, I took a deep breath.

I just needed to hurt her a bit more, to make her realize how much I loved our mother…

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I slammed my door shut.

“Lillya...that stupid girl. She really thinks she knows it all, huh? Little did she know that there is a damn murderer around the house...and that is mom!” I shouted, kicking my own chair, slamming my foot against it multiple times. “Shit! Shit! Shit!”

I started furiously walking around my own room, trembling and breathing heavily on purpose.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Look at me, Yunya. Look at my rage.

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It was afternoon. William asked everyone else about the lunch, and we all agreed. We were sitting at that same balcony after asking Ferya and Satomi to try to keep mom far from us.

“Okay, if we are doing this, we’re doing this big. Not just a lunch...something more.” Annaliese suggested excitedly. “Like, we buy a cake or something.”

“That would be really good.” Rosie chimed. “I know a pastry shop across the street near my shop, they make good cakes.”

“If we’re going for a cake, then…” Annaliese quietly muttered. "...the, uhm, we should also decorate the balcony nicely...like, with flowers and stuff. I heard a classmate saying her dad has a flower shop. Maybe we can take some of those."

“Yeah, that’d work too.” William wrote it down. “Flowers, cake...what else?”

Nelya raised her hand, we all nodded.

“We could also buy her something nice. It can’t be dad’s money though...it has to come from Rosie’s revenue!” She said, looking at Rosie.

“Hahah...alright, alright. I don’t need to save money anyway...” She smiled bitterly.

“What do we buy though?” Annaliese asked.

“Hm...maybe another perfume?” William suggested.

“Yeah, that sounds like the safest thing.” Rosie nodded.

Erika wasn’t there with us. She shrugged and deemed the idea as “stupid”, even if she promised to be there during lunch. She really was absorbed in her own plans.

“Lillya, say something too!” Nelya nudged me. “Any ideas?”

I looked at everyone.

I knew it was all going to be useless, and that didn’t motivate me much. But I had to pretend...or the witch would have punished me. So I smiled and rubbed my chin, trying to think.

Then, Milo suddenly hopped on the table. Everyone immediately started going crazy about his appearance, overwhelming him with pets as he tried to reach my side of the table.

“He really is attached to you huh?” Annaliese smiled at me. “How did you even find him?”

“He walked on my lap as I was at the backyard tree.” I replied, caressing his back slowly.

“His white fur is just like your hair.” Rosie said. “And William’s.”

Katherine stared at it silently...she was the only one who didn’t react.

“What? Scared of cats?” Annaliese teased her.

“No. It’s just...that cat feels weird.” She shrugged. “I don’t know, he doesn’t give me good vibes.”

“What are you even saying!” Annaliese slapped her arm softly. “Don’t be mean to such a nice fluff ball!”

But then, she pointed at me, her gaze gaining a little coldness.

I couldn't understand what Katherine was trying to imply. Milo was such a calm and nice cat, I never saw him scratch someone.

“It’s just that he reminds me of Lillya.” She explained. “A random, white cat arrived at our home with no explanation. They are both without past, and they’re both living here.”

“Woah, woah, easy there.” William said, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “What was that just now?”

“I didn’t mean to be rude. Sorry.” She looked down, falling silent.

The awkward air got to everyone quickly, so William cleared his throat and stood up. “Alright. Rosie, let’s go buy what we need. You all, keep silent and don’t spoil the surprise!”

We all nodded and quickly scattered.

I walked down the corridor, trying to reach my room, but then I heard someone touching my shoulder.

It was Katherine. She held her head down and blushed. She was taller than me, though she looked pretty small figuratively. “I’m sorry.” She muttered. Milo appeared right behind her, brushing his body against our legs. “I just...I’m just a bit confused after dad’s death. I didn’t mean to say that. I'm-”

“It’s okay, Katherine.” I hugged her. “We’re all a bit mad.”

“Thank you.” She hugged me back.

She was right, though.

Her guts were telling her the truth.

She was the one who was closer to the truth amongst them all.

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Another night filled with rain.

I sat at my desk, taking deep breaths as I grasped the knife in my hand with courage.

I had to do it. It could have meant losing the trust of my family members...but I had to do it.

Then, someone knocked at my door.

“Who is it?” I asked, putting the knife inside my drawer and standing up.

William and Rosie appeared, closing the door right behind them, they both stared at me intently.

“It’s eleven in the night, what do you want?” I asked them, sighing.

“I wanted to understand why you refused to plan the lunch with today.” He calmly replied, shrugging.

“I just think it’s pointless, it’s not what we should focus on now.” I sat on my bed, crossing my arms.

“And what should we focus on, hm?” He glared at me, sitting at my desk. “Should we focus on the reason dad killed himself? And for what?”

I stood silent, shaking my head.

“I’ve seen war. Not the large scale type, thank God – but I’ve seen it.” He told me. “People’s minds are frailer than we think, Erika.”

I knew that very well.

The thing I was focus on didn’t have anything to do with what he was implying. However, I couldn’t really tell him anything, so I played along.

“I know...it’s just…!” I gritted my teeth. “How could he do it so randomly? N-Not even a sign!”

Rosie sighed, grabbing my hands, making me stand up. She embraced me warmly, kissing my head. “It’s okay, Erika. You act all tough, but I know that you are as soft as Lillya and Nelya...and any other girl in this house.”

I faked a sniffle, grabbing her dress.

“Yes, if there’s anything on your mind...just speak with us, okay?” He got up and reached us. “We are reliable!”

“Yes. I’m sorry.” I nodded. “I’ll apologize to everyone tomorrow.”

“Okay. Thank you.” He nodded back, heading out of my room. Rosie waved at me, following him. “Goodnight.”

The door closed. I rushed to my drawer and pulled the knife back out.

“Time to move.” I said out loud.

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I approached my mother’s bedroom. The blade pointed downwards as I walked, slowly and steadily.

The plan was simple.

The witch needed all the family members to stick around the mansion despite all the deaths that were going to occur. To do that, the deaths had to be separated and calculated.

So what if I, under a fit of rage, tried to kill mom and broke the beautiful cycle the witch and her pawn created?

The killer would have been forced to come out of the shadows and stop me by themselves to preserve everything and avoid panic. After all, if one of the servants found mom stabbed on the floor, they wouldn’t deduce suicide as the cause of death.

And so I walked, my light feet hitting the carpet, making faint sounds. Cold sweat dribbled down my forehead. The more I got close to mom’s room, the more I feared getting attacked from anywhere.

If my theory was right the witch was omniscient. I was convinced she had seen me and warned her pawn to do something. I could fight alright...my past experiences let me learn a lot. I hoped for the best and prayed that her pawn was easy to take down.

Yet, as I finally reached the doorknob...nothing happened. The silence of death, filled with the droplets of rain hitting against the cold glass of the windows.

I swallowed, my throat dry as paper. My heart beating faster, I could hear it in my ears. I rubbed my thumb against the handle of the knife nervously, my eyes darting around the darkness, searching for her pawn.

Did she foresee my move? Am I doing this for nothing? Should I go back?

I took a deep breath, calmness washed my whole body.

No. She was probably testing her limits. She was surely holding her pawn until the last moment, to see if she had to escalate things and stop me.

And so I opened the door wide, rushing inside with the fake intent of murdering my mother.

Silence persisted. I closed the door behind me and approached the bed, running my hand across the sheets to feel my steps.

Nobody was stopping me. I had a knife in my right hand, and I could have killed her. There was no pawn.

Then, my fingers reached a sticky, liquid substance.

Immediately brought it to my nose and smelled it.

Blood…!

I heard a groan thereafter. I dropped the knife on the ground and turned the bedside lamp on.

“M-Mom…!” I whispered, holding her arm in my hands. Her eyes slowly searched for mine.

A knife was implanted in her chest, both her hands wrapped around the handle. Another staged suicide.

I immediately reached it to pull it out...but then I stopped.

What if she screams in pain? I will be caught in this situation, and I would be accused of doing this.

My thoughts swirled as I heard my dying mother’s moans.

“Help...me…” she whispered, a low, faint voice.

“Mom…” I shook my head, leaving her as she was. She was going to die anyway, there was no hope. Only one thing was left to be done. “Who did this?!” I asked her, shaking her awake before it was too late.

“She...she was crying…” she muttered. As soon as she spoke, her throat started gargling blood out. I blocked the noise with my hands while trying to shake her awake again.

“She? Who? Tell me!”

“She didn’t...want…”

She was going to die soon, so I yelled louder.

“Mom! You have to tell me who it was!” I shook her again.

Mom stared at me with her weak eyes for the last time. Her lips moved slowly, saying inaudible sounds. Then, her head dropped to the side, blood staining the white pillow.

I took a few steps back, falling on my knees.

“I lost.”