Camilla rounded the corner of the hallway leading to the study in the Braumsheil estate. She was ostensibly visiting her friend Henrietta, the youngest daughter of the Count and lady Braumsheil. There was another reason that Camilla, the only heir to the D’arville barony, was here.
She had gotten permission from the lady of the house to visit the study and say hello to their older son, Vincent, who was acting count while his father was away on business. He was so diligent, always studying books and papers on the political comings and goings of the kingdom. Camilla had a huge crush on him and prayed that he would remain single for another half year until she turned fifteen and was of marriageable age.
It had been nearly six years ago when she was visiting her friend Henrietta that she had run into Vincent, literally. He was carrying a stack of books on politics and magic back to the study while his little sister and her guest were running unchecked through the manor.
Henrietta was chasing Camilla and attempting to tickle her in retribution for the same. She called out to Camilla who was looking over her shoulder to make sure she wouldn’t be caught. By the time the meaning of her warning registered she had already collided with a stack of books and the boy behind them. Both the books and the children went crashing to the floor in a heap and Camilla began wailing in frustration and mild pain.
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her head and looked up through bleary eyes. Henrietta’s older brother, Vincent, was patting her head. When she looked at him, he held out his hand to help her up and spoke in a hesitant voice. “It’s okay, isn’t it? I hope you didn’t get hurt from my books. I know they’re heavy. Please don’t cry! We can go get a purin from the kitchens if you like so, please don’t cry.”
Vincent Braumsheil wasn’t buff or dashing, nor was he what most girls would consider particularly appealing. In fact, most people thought of him as too bookish. Camilla however, found him to be the most charming boy in all the kingdom. In that moment, as she looked up into his captivating hazel eyes, she could feel her heart fluttering and fell madly in love, much to the delight of their parents.
In the last six years he hadn’t changed in personality much except getting a bit more serious. He had filled out a bit due to being forced to take self defense sword training but he was still rather thin. He had gotten a lot taller and his pale complexion had gotten a bit darker making him all the more attractive to one Camilla Leronne’ D’arville. And his already captivating hazel eyes, had become more-so in recent years as they gained the slight glow denoting the presence of strong magical abilities.
Camilla had grown more attractive as well during the last six years. She had lost the girly charm of her youth and was beginning to replace it with womanly appeal. Her formerly skinny figure had filled out a bit and now fit the definition of slender. Her light green hair had grown till it was now down to her thighs meaning she had to have the chambermaids take care of it for her to make it look as radiant as it could.
Her blue, faintly-glowing eyes darted about the hallway. The full-length rug in the hallway muffled her footsteps as she approached the study. There were lots of portraits and other paintings as well as many bits of art lining the sides of the hallway but she didn’t care about any of them. The only thing that caught her interest in that long expanse of hallway was the big, inlaid, wood doors leading to the study.
As she reached the doors her breath caught. It had been almost a full season since she had last been to visit the Braumsheil estate. Would Vincent still look at her the same way? She had gotten bigger in the bust, if only a little, during that time. Maybe he would look at her as a woman! What if he proposed to her? How would she react? How should she react? Calm down. Just go in and act normal!
She opened the door with a slight knock. As she walked in there was a strange scent in the air that she couldn’t quite place. She called out to him softly but didn’t get any response. The study was dimly lit by lamps mounted on the walls. Through the dim light of the lamps, she spotted Vincent in the padded chair at the desk on the far side of the study.
The red, velvet padded chair was facing away from Camilla but she could see it moving slightly. Busy working as always. He’s probably so engrossed in whatever he’s studying that he didn’t even hear me come in. She called out to him again but he didn’t respond. Maybe he’s sleeping? I bet he studied all through the night again and he’s fallen asleep at his desk. I bet he’s just as cute when he sleeps but I won’t be able to see his gorgeous eyes. Oh well, can’t have everything I suppose.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
As she got closer to the big polished-wood desk she started to get anxious. She could see the top of his head and the tilt of it seemed somehow wrong. Also, his hand was hanging limply beside the arm of the chair. As she rushed the last few meters around the front of the desk, she took in more details and her dread mounted. There was something dripping from his hand and something spilled on the desk in front of Vincent. She said a silent prayer, Please just be sleeping! And what is that weird smacking noise?
The moment Camilla rounded the side of the chair and got a good look at Vincent her worst fears were realized. His eyes, once beautiful and vibrant, were now dull and lifelessly staring at the ceiling. The angle of his face exposed the mutilated remains of his neck. It had been torn open, drenching both his chin and his well-tailored, white shirt in his life’s blood.
She took all of that in in an instant of shock and that was all the time she had before her attention was forced elsewhere. A piercing, primal screech came from the creature in the now dead young man’s lap. The creature was startled by the sudden appearance of another human. It was too busy greedily devouring the unfortunate victim’s entrails to notice her approach even with her softly calling the name of the deceased several times. It was not happy about having its meal interrupted.
The moment that Camilla looked down at the small black creature covered in blood it leapt for her face with a screech. She was already in the act of backing away in shock and that is probably what saved her life as the creature’s claws passed only centimeters from her own throat.
The moment that it missed it’s target it stretched out two leathery wings and took flight. It flapped several times in hopes of reaching the ceiling and the relative safety of the dark recesses near the top of the room. There were several large bookcases lining the walls that didn’t quite reach the ceiling. That offered the creature the perfect vantage from which to launch a surprise attack and that’s how it took out its last meal. Now, if only it could repeat the same tactic. It might not be a total surprise but any advantage was welcome on the hunt for prey.
Camilla realized what the thing was the moment it spread its wings. Imps were a particularly nasty and easy to summon variety of lesser demons. They were vicious, cunning, quick, and worst of all they could fly! They were made even worse by being resistant to physical attack. Owing to their tough skin and light weight, it was hard to land a decent strike on one. The best method of dealing with an imp was to hit it with a spell because they had really poor magic defense compared to other demons.
Camilla began her chant the second she recognized what the creature was. Normally, she wouldn’t have the concentration to track a flying enemy and chant her spell but her senses were on high alert from the overwhelming danger she faced.
The imp sensed the danger it was in and doubled back to try making an attack before the young mage could finish her spell. The demon knew that she posed a serious threat if she was allowed to finish her spell but somehow, she was rushing through the complicated chant with terrifying speed. The imp wasn’t particularly smart but it knew on an instinctual level that it wouldn’t make it before she finished and began weaving back and fourth in its dive towards its target.
The sudden erratic movement caught Camilla by surprise. For the first weave she followed its movements but then her training kicked in. A charging enemy would end up in your line of fire because you were the target. She calmed her fear and focused her killing intent on her precious Vincent’s killer. That focus allowed her to figure its trajectory and finish her chant in an instant. A split second later her hand flashed out and a meter long needle of ice the width of two of her fingers shot from her glowing palm.
The imp didn’t have time to correct its course or even register what had hit it. The needle of ice hadn’t even cleared her hand before striking the imp. That was how close it had come to claiming her life as well. However, it had failed and now it had a meter long needle of ice skewering through almost all of its internal organs. That much it could survive but the needle had exited its back right between its wings and severed its spine. It was instantly pinned to the wall and through the searing pain it used the last of its life to screech and howl in rage and contempt before dying.
Camilla, freed from the threat of death, turned her attention back to the corpse of Vincent. Her hand involuntarily went to her mouth as she gasped for air. The visage before her left her face ashen and her soul stricken. She barely even noticed as the door to the study burst open and other people came rushing in. The gruesome manner of her poor Vincent’s death had her mind and her heart in a vice.
Suddenly, as her mind blanked, a truly bizarre series of thoughts entered her mind. If she had the faculties left to think clearly, she would have realized how alien they were. I’ve seen this start scene several times, does that mean that it was the sister this time? Wait, wasn’t the earl of Fetterblaum here earlier? Yeah, it could be him taking out his family’s grievances over the trade dispute on the acting count Braumsheil. As soon as those thoughts were done running through her mind she collapsed.