Don't Abandon Me

'That would make sense...' Lucille contemplated. 'She was very pretty. Just like a fairy. Mama said all nobles are pretty, so that must be it.'

'When will she visit again? She said she'd visit again...I want her to bring me more things...she didn't forget, right? She wouldn't forget.'

Weeks passed, and there was no sign of Kalina. Lucille waited and waited by the door, preparing to welcome Kalina, but she never came.

When Nessa returned home at night with a loaf of bread for dinner, she saw Lucille sitting on a chair with a dejected expression.

"What's wrong with you?" Nessa asked. "I can't afford more toys for you, you know that."

"No, it's..." Lucille remembered Kalina telling her to keep her visit a secret. "Nothing."

"Alright. Then don't complain." Nessa ripped the bread in two, handing the smaller half to Lucille. It was the first meal she had had for the whole day.

Lucille began scarfing down the bread hungrily, crumbs dotting the sides of her mouth.. She had barely taken a few bites when suddenly, Nessa slapped her daughter's wrist, her narrow eyes full with fury. A red mark quickly emerged on the girl's thin arm.

"Mama...?"

"I told you not to eat like that! Like a pig! You...! When, when I get to go to that house, they'll look down on me...me, a commoner...a prostitute..." Her purple eyes turned frenzied and she grabbed fistfuls of her own hair.

Nessa grabbed the half-eaten portion of bread and threw it on to the floor, trampling on it until it became a dirty, inedible mush.

Tears formed in Lucille's round eyes as she watched her food being forced into the dusty ground. She tried to grab her mother's hand to calm her down, but Nessa slapped her hand away again.

"Get out! I don't want to see your face!"

Lucille's face only resembled her mother's and did not look like her father's at all. Nessa feared that if the Duke didn't believe that she was his child, all her efforts that she put into raising her would be for naught. She would never be able to rise in status and achieve her dream of being a noble.

Lucille scrambled to get out, not wanting to be hit again. Her bare feet stung as she ran in the cobblestone alley, her face full of tears. She shut her eyes tightly and ran as fast as she could in the direction of the town square. The townspeople had come out to visit the night market and the road was filled with people.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" A man yelled as Lucille narrowly missed crashing into his wife. He stretched out a hand and shoved Lucille to the side before turning away.

Lucille yelped as her right shoulder hit the hard ground. She rolled to the side of the road, her small body crumpled into a fetal position.

She struggled to raise her head, reaching out a small hand towards the crowd, hoping that someone would come help her. But the townspeople turned away, some even whispering words like "a beggar..." and "was she abandoned?"

"I'm not abandoned!" she screamed with all her might. "Mama won't abandon me! She'll come look for me!"

"Oh, my..."

"Poor thing..."

"She won't last."

"No! No! Stop! Go away!" Lucille flailed her arms around, hating the stares that held pity for her. She didn't want to be unwanted. She wanted to be looked up to, not to be crawling on the ground begging for help.

A middle-aged woman clicked her tongue, looking down at the small girl in disdain. "I don't want to help such an ungrateful child anyway."

The crowd murmured in agreement and dispersed, leaving Lucille all alone on a cold street corner. There she lay, until the sound of heeled shoes clacking on the stone pavement slowly approached her.

She slowly lifted her head and was met with the blinding sight of a figure whose head was surrounded by a golden halo. The flickering lights of the night market shone from behind the person and onto Lucille's tear-streaked face.

Seeing the outstretched hand that reached down towards her from above in the cold night, Lucille truly thought she had met an angel.

－－－－－－－－－

Kalina had been on the way to visit Lucille when she saw a crowd of people gathered on the side of the street. Standing at the back of the crowd, she was able to glimpse a small girl lying on the ground.

Kalina was about to call her knights to help the girl up, when the girl began screaming. Kalina instantly froze. She knew that shrill voice better than anyone.

The crowd disappeared and Kalina stepped up in front of Lucille. Seeing the girl prostrated on the dusty ground in front of her made her grin sadistically.

'Yes...this is how it should be.'

Looking into Lucille's teary purple eyes, Kalina silently reached out her hand. She had made sure to wear gloves this time after seeing how dirty Lucille's living conditions were.

"Miss...!" Olivia exclaimed after Lucille placed her hand on Kalina's gloved hand.

Kalina pulled Lucille to her feet gently, turning to Olivia with a soft smile.

"She will be my guest, so treat her like so," she ordered. "You, find us an inn to rest in." She pointed to one of her knights.

Just ten minutes later, Kalina and Lucille were alone in a room of a nearby inn. Kalina was slowly sponging Lucille's face with a wet cloth. The dirt and grime was cleared away to reveal the girl's baby face.

"Sister..." Lucille teared up again. Even her own mother didn't bathe her this tenderly.

"Yes?"

"Sister won't leave me, right? Sister won't abandon me like Mama did. Don't abandon me, please...I don't want to be alone...it's scary..." Lucille grasped Kalina's skirt tightly with her hands. Her body was shaking in fear, thinking about how one day, her mother might leave her alone forever.

'Abandon? Nessa? She would never do that, she needs Lucille to get into my household.' Kalina thought as she removed Lucille's hands from her dress.

"Your mother would never abandon you." Kalina smiled benevolently, placing Lucille's hands on her own lap. "You can trust me on that."

"Really? You promise?"

"Yes." Kalina fetched a mirror from the table in the room, holding it in front of Lucille's face. "Look how pretty you look. Your mother would never let go of something like this."

'Without you, Nessa can't become my father's mistress.'

"Is that really me?" Lucille touched her face in awe. She never knew she looked like this. If only she could wear fancy dresses like the ones Kalina wore, then she would never be looked down upon again by those townspeople...

"Sister, are you a noble?" Lucille asked, remembering the dress that Kalina had worn before. She wished that one day, she could wear that dress and stand next to Kalina.

Kalina was caught off guard due to her sudden question. 'How did she know?'

Her dark expression seemed to show her thoughts, and Lucille nervously played with her hands.

"Ah, the dress you wore...I saw it in a nobles' boutique."

"Oh, is that so? Then yes, I am of noble blood."

"That's why you're so pretty! Because you're a noble!" Lucille exclaimed, her eyes wide. "I want to be a noble too, just like Sister! Then I can be just as pretty as Sister and wear the dresses Sister wears!"