Naomi sighed as the door of her hell locked with a click. Her mother wanted to go out with her new husband to celebrate the empire's festivities while her daughter sat in the cold, depressing room. It has always been this way, even before her mother married, and it would stay that way until Naomi was old enough to work and live on her own. Naomi did not understand why her mother only showed anger and resentment toward her daughter, but the girl learned at a young age, not to talk to her mother or even face her. Naomi shivered at the memories of her mother's anger and punishments and quickly decided not to make that risky choice.

Naomi shook her head at the haunting thoughts and went towards the broken mirror in her room's corner. The sight of the image in front of her caused a choked cry from her throat. Naomi saw her sunken, dirty face, glazed over blue eyes, messy red hair, and a thin body. She cried as scars of her heart came boiled over; what did she do wrong? Naomi was the perfect daughter, but her mother thought differently.

"You look just like him."

"You are nothing but a parasite."

"Why didn't you die?"

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Naomi tried to justify her mother's actions, but that was wasteful thinking. Why did her father not take her with him? Why did her stepfather encourage her mother's behavior? All she had was questions with no answers and no one to protect her.

"You have me."

Naomi bolted at the unknown voice. She looked toward the direction of the voice, and there stood a man with a black cloak covering his face and body.

"Who are you?" the man just chuckled—no response to her question.

"I am somebody who is confirming a theory. Good day, my lady." and with the man was gone.

Naomi did not understand what the man had meant, but a yawn interrupted her thoughts and declared defeat as she climbed into bed.

________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, at a manor outside the capital stood a man who had a black cloak covering his face and body.

"My lord, where have you been?" spoke an old butler as he helped the man undress,

"Louis, I need you to grab paper and a pen. I need to write a letter to the emperor." and with that, the butler bowed and left the room.

The man sat quietly in a chair, deep in thought about the events that played out tonight. That girl did not know how important she was, but would the emperor approve it?

"My lord, do you need anything else?"

"No."

The man quickly grabbed the pen and paper. The emperor needed to know, but what he decides to do with the girl is a mystery. She was a weakness to the empire, and they needed to act accordingly.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for reading! Add your library and leave a comment