'You look prettier when you smile like that.'

"...Damn it gobs..." Lucy muttered softly as her ears slowly reddened. The realization did not hit her until now. Lucy was cleaning up the guest room as she tried to distract herself to no avail. No matter what she did, Lucy could not shake the memory from her head.

"I am not pretty. I am... an ugly freak." Lucy whispered dejectedly when Seth's words whispered inside her head once more.

'You are still beautiful in my eyes sister Lucy.'

Lucy reddened again as she stomped as quietly as she could to the ground. His words did not lie. Seth's words held no lies even if Lucy desperately wanted to. Even with the help of power, Lucy could find no lies within his words. Like sister Emma and the others, Seth was one of the few who did not look at her that way.

He looked as if he... cares for her? Seth cares for her? The slow realization made Lucy terrified once more. Emma and the others were a massive risk Lucy miraculously won. Getting attached was something Lucy longed for but was too afraid to try as often as she once did.

Her family pushed her to this point. Kier had ruined her to this point. To the point of cynicism. Yet Lucy could feel the budding hope slowly growing within her.

"Maybe this time... just maybe..." Lucy whispered as she was both terrified and hopeful.

She could feel the imminent danger rising from her chest. Her instincts were screaming to the utter foolishness in which she was about to partake. It was foolishness. Trusting someone so much you barely know for a week might as well be reckless.

Just one wrong misunderstanding could ruin everything... and yet Lucy did not seem to mind. She in fact... longed for it? Lucy was so stunned by her conflicting feelings that she failed to notice Iva bumping into her.

The clothes she carried almost escaped from her hold as she was too small to carry everything. "Ah, sorry Iva. Here let me-"

"I'm fine." Iva moved out of the way before Lucy could touch her.

"You need help,” Lucy said as she moved closer“I can-"

"I said I'm fine." Iva glared as Lucy hesitated for a while.

Iva tried to pick up the clothes that fell from her grasp but soon found herself unable to reach them as she was too small. "...Are you sure?" Lucy remarked as Iva clicked her tongue.

"Just grab what had fallen and give it to me." Lucy nodded as she picked up the clothes.

"Now give it to me." Iva said but Lucy made no move to give it to her and began walking ahead of her. "Hey! I said give it to me!" Iva complained as Lucy replied.

"Just let me help you with this one. You clearly needed it." Iva's eyes widened before it glared in hostility.

"Just like what you did to my father?" Iva spat the words out like venom as Lucy paled.

"I-I'm just trying to help..." Lucy trailed off, finding no words in her tongue.

"Like you helped me?" Lucy could offer no rebuttal as Iva's words hammered her heart. "I’ve already had enough of your help. I don’t want it." Iva muttered bitterly as Lucy was assaulted once more by guilt.

"...I'm sorry..." Lucy softly whispered as Iva turned to glare once more.

Her eyes were burning to the brim with anger and hostility as Lucy felt more and more guilt crushing her shoulder. Lucy thought she would continue to lash out, only to see the anger in her eyes die down and was replaced with melancholy and grief. Eyes watering in longing for her dead father.

"...Just leave me be... please?" Iva whispered. The young nun tried to reply, anything that would help the little girl, but she found nothing as she watched the small figure carrying all the luggage with guilt and sadness before disappearing around the corner.

֍

“Why?” Iva’s quivering voice echoed across the lonely halls, her steps becoming weaker as her eyes began to sting. She tried to fight off the tears, but there was only so much she could do before the crippling loneliness returned.

“Just… just why dad?” Her soft moans of anguish bled into the world as her legs finally gave out. Iva collapsed onto a pile of laundry, though she did not even put the effort to move as she simply curled up on the floor, whimpering in pain.

Little Iva tried to contain her voice, biting her lip shut, though it only strangled her chest in suffocation. Her throat felt dry, her eyes burned as she soon found out how futile her struggle was. The urge was simply stronger than her. And she hated every second of it.

Even as simple as keeping her voice down proved to be too much for her as she began hitting the floor in frustration and pain. Anything to keep the voice in, anything to-

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Shh. There there.” Iva blinked when she felt her body being lifted from the ground. Her eyes quickly turned to see the older nun Emma gently swinging and bouncing up and down with her as if she were a baby.

Iva quickly tries to put up a resistance as she pushes away from the older nun, but the grasp was firmer than she expected. The little girl tried to shout in protest, but what came out instead was a cry of longing.

Were it any other time, Iva would have stopped, old instincts preventing her from showing weakness. But there was little she could do to Emma’s gentle swing and soft humming. Before she realized it, Iva began to cry herself to sleep.

֍

'Lucy is recovering faster than I anticipated.' Seth wrote in his small notebook as he walked back to his house.

'3 days had barely passed and yet she was recovering at a remarkable pace. It may be due to the sisters and the orphans, though further studies are needed to verify this. It could also be of her past.’

‘Though I have yet to uncover it, I believe Emma Larum, or rather sister Lucy as to what she preferred to be called, might have been a mercenary or a soldier once. The idea is far-fetched and ridiculous to even consider at first.’

‘Yet I found myself more and more drawn back to this idea as she seemed to show symptoms like those men and women. She had shown all of it! From the paranoid look, she gave at every stranger to jumping at the slightest blunt noise.’

‘I even caught her flinching more than I like to admit when I talk to her about anything remotely close to a monster or war. Lucy truly seemed like a veteran who seemed haunted by her past. Though, this could also be an entirely new defense mechanism of hers.’

‘Needless to say, Lucy did not have a great childhood. Her scars alone speak volumes about the harassment she endured in that damnable house. It infuriates me really. How can such a lovely girl-'

"Lovely?" Seth found himself muttering in confusion.

"Why would I call her lovely?" Seth muttered just as he was about to cross the word out. It was then it hit him.

"Ah... I see." Seth could not help but find himself grinning like an idiot as he shook his head. "Your imagination sure runs wild Seth." He mocked to himself.

"Come now, she is a noble. A merchant can’t aim for the impossible. She-"

But she is not one anymore, right? Seth's eyes widened as he smacked his face hard.

"Idiot, what are you thinking?" Seth muttered hard but could not shake the thought out of his head. It clings to his mind stubbornly like a virus. Gnawing his attention and focus as it demands immediately for an answer or he would never find peace.

"...Well, I guess it would be nice...!" Seth's ears reddened as soon as he said and heard those words. He never truly considered how embarrassing it truly was until he said it himself.

"...Focus Seth, not now." Seth forced himself to write once more as he desperately pushed back the thought.

'It's horrid if I'm being honest. There is no reason in the world that could ever be justified to push Lucy into trauma such as this. Whenever I mentioned even remotely close to the dukedom, she grimaced as if it had done nothing to her but pain and misery.’

‘I accidentally mentioned her brother and father once. She reacted strongly in anger and fear. Again, a clear sign of abuse. Unless Lucy is completely delusional, which I'm certain she is not, her family must have been the root of her pain. Whatever they did, they had utterly ruined her.’

‘How else would you explain her reflexes? The avoidance of such topic? I should probably avoid talking about the dukedom to let her recover. Really, if it were not for that scar, I bet that everyone would-'

"Argh, you idiot." Seth cursed once more as he hurriedly erased the last sentence.

"... Am I really that happy?" Seth's eyes widened as he soon grimaced at himself.

Are you really that happy that she has scars? What is wrong with you?! Seth cursed inside but could not deny his thoughts. He was slightly happy that the others did not notice Lucy as he did. Just slightly.

Though at the same time, he was furious to be happy at her current condition. Seth shook himself into focus once more as he began to write to push the thoughts away. 'Though there is one thing I should take note of. It was brief, extremely brief, but I once spoke of the royal family.’

‘Nothing much really, just to pass the time but the reaction was... something. The moment I spoke of the high prince particularly, her reaction was that of a chaotic mess. Grief, confusion, longing, but the one that stood out of them all was resentment and terror.’

'Did the royal family had a hand in all of this? Where do they fit in all of this?' Seth pauses to give the thought some time. His brows furrowed in frustration but found nothing as he sighed.

‘I have no clue as to why she reacted so violently, but it is best to avoid any future topic about the royal family for now. Though, I doubt that-‘

"Watch where you're walking you blind imbecile!" Seth narrowly avoided being trampled by a horse as he turned to see Jhavik.

Kalva be damn... Seth groaned as he put on his merchant smile almost in reflex. "My apologies mayor. It seemed I was busy calculating my earnings for this day. Good day to you!" Go die in a ditch you fat pig. Seth silently cursed as he continued walking.

"...Wait..." Seth paused as he turned around, confused by Jhavik's odd behavior. "Where is that... that sister you were with days ago?" Jhavik asked as Seth's suspicion immediately rose.

What does this fat churl want? "Ah, you mean her mayor? She is with the others!" Seth replied vaguely, prompting a grin to grace his face as he watched Jhavik frown before the man replied..

"Tell her to meet me the day after tomorrow at my office." Seth's brow twitched as he responded.

"That might be hard mayor Jhavik! She is busy you-"

"Do I look like as if I care gobs?!" Jhavik roared.

Choke on your own dung. Seth mentally cursed.

"What could possibly be more important than a meeting with me?!" Apparently anything else but you.

"She should be grateful that I didn't send any guards to drag her out to wherever hole she came from!"

A thousand curses may be upon you wretch. Still smiling, though the merchant briefly considered sewing the man's mouth shut.

"Tell her to go or she will suffer the consequences!" Jhavik yelled before whipping his poor horse to move. Seth watched the silhouette disappear before his face slowly crumpled up to disgust.

"Just what sins humanity did do to deserve this waste?" Seth cursed under his breath. "Well, that is one more stain to clean," Seth muttered under his own breath as he had no intention of telling Lucy at all. "Seriously, just what did he hope to discover from sister Lucy to..." Seth trailed off as terrible realization soon hit his mind.

"No, he can't be..." Seth slowly paled out for a moment as the slow understanding flooded his mind. Disgust, panic, and hate. All of it hit Seth at once as he realized the new and horrid threat that appeared before him. "That fat pig... just why now?" Seth cursed as if he did not have enough problems.

"...How am I supposed to tell her?" Seth mauled over the question as he slowly walked back to his way home.