1 Vengeance

"Ugh."

A boot collided with Kalina's backside, forcing her to her hands and knees. With a heaving cough, she spat out a mouthful of crimson blood, a crude contrast against the white marble floor she kneeled on. Her beautiful face was smeared with dirt and grime and her once glorious golden tresses had been replaced with a matted dirty blonde mess. As a young lady of a Ducal family, Kalina had never experienced this level of humiliation and clenched her jaw tightly, refusing to believe her circumstances.

"Look what we have here." A baritone voice jeered from behind Kalina. The words resonated around the empty throne room, filling Kalina with dread.

She immediately raised her head and whipped around, her eyes full of terror. Standing in front of her was her fiancé, the Crown Prince Heinrich, arm in arm with her younger half-sister, Lucille.

"L-Lucy...help me..." Kalina begged in a hoarse voice as she crawled towards her sister while the other girl stared down at her with a strange look in her violet eyes. Kalina was about to grab the hem of Lucille's dress to plead for mercy when a force threw her backwards.

"Don't touch her!" Heinrich barked and kicked Kalina in her side, causing her to collapse once again. More blood dribbled out of Kalina's ghastly lips and the purple bruises covering her body throbbed with pain.

"Kalina..." Lucille said softly and covered her mouth with her hand. She appeared to be shocked by her sister's grim appearance. Her grip on Heinrich's arm tightened, which caused the man to furrow his thick eyebrows and sharpen his glare.

"After today, you won't be able to harass Lucille anymore." Heinrich declared, unsheathing his sword and pointing it at Kalina's neck.

"Wait..." Lucille grabbed Heinrich's hand, causing him to turn his head. His amber gaze immediately softened and he stroked her fingers as if he were reassuring her.

"Don't worry, after this witch is dead, no one will ever insult you again." He kissed her hand and smiled wickedly. "If you're scared, I'll cover your eyes."

Lucille trembled, her delicate doe-like eyes darted between Heinrich's face and Kalina's crumpled body. "That's not it. I, I want to have a final word with my sister..." she said as she looked down at the floor.

After hearing this, Heinrich turns and spits on Kalina's body, causing her to tremble in fear. "You should be grateful Lucille still considers you her sister." he told her, the disgust clear in his voice. He turned to Lucille, his tone soft and calming. "Lucy, I'll be outside." After he finished his words, he turned around and left, but not before shooting another glare at Kalina.

"Sister..." Lucille walked closer, her pristine appearance a stark contrast with Kalina's unsightly one. She crouched down, her face inches away from Kalina's. Kalina looked up at her sister, who looked like a saint with her pale blue hair cascading down her back, framing her fair face.

Kalina opened her mouth to try and say something, but before she could make a sound, Lucille suddenly reached out and grabbed a fistful of her tangled hair, pulling it up and outwards. Kalina winced in pain and yelped in shock. Lucille took Kalina's chin into her other hand, grabbing it tightly.

"S-Sist-" Kalina managed, before Lucille pulled her hair harder, causing her to clench her jaw. Lucille's face had contorted into a hideous sneer as she stared down at the girl struggling underneath her like a dying bug.

"You stupid bitch," Lucille said, leaning closer. She reeked of lavender perfume, which she had begun using after learning it was Kalina's favorite. "Did you really think I thought of you like a sister? Me, a commoner's daughter, and you, a princess?"

Kalina's eyes widened, her gold eyes widening at Lucille's vile words. She had always thought of Lucille as an innocent and feeble younger sister, although they were only a year apart. After all, Lucille came from a humble background. She was her father's illegitimate child with a commoner baker. At first, when her father brought Lucille and her mother home, she felt contempt towards the child and woman who received so much attention from her father who was so indifferent to her. Kalina had always had a temper after being spoiled by her mother, Duchess Ephraim from a young age, and constantly threw tantrums when she saw Lucille.

However, one day, Kalina's mother took her aside and explained to her that it was inevitable that her father would take a mistress and that she should treat Lucille well. From that day on, Kalina shared with Lucille everything she had. Her dresses, her jewels, her toys, even her friends.

"B-But..we're sisters! F-Father, he-!" Kalina exclaimed with all her strength. The Lucille before her was not the one she knew. No, did she ever know the true Lucille?

"Oh, Daddy?" Lucille smiled, tapping her finger to her lips. "I'll let you in on a little secret since you're about to die anyway. Daddy isn't your father. We're not blood related after all, sister."

"What?" Kalina asked. She couldn't believe her ears. The girl who she had treated so well and loved so dearly, wasn't even her real sister? Then, who was her father?

"Don't worry, sister," Lucille spat out the last word as if it was repulsive. "I'll let you join your mother very, very, soon."

"M-Mother..." Kalina's mother had died three years ago of a mysterious chronic illness. Kalina could do nothing but watch as her mother became weaker and frailer day by day. As the Duchess lay on her deathbed, her husband didn't even visit her once and instead spent his time on a vacation with his mistress, Lucille's mother Nessa.

A tear streaked down Kalina's face, clearing a path on her cheek through the dirt as she thought of her mother's sallow face and lifeless eyes. "You..." she gritted her teeth and glared at Lucille who stared back with a smug expression. "You killed her?"

"That's right. I didn't think it would be that easy, to be honest. All it took was a few years of poisoning her meals and sending her spiked cookies. I'm sure she noticed at one point, but she stayed silent–it must have been painful, yet she still told you she was okay, didn't she? How pitiful." Lucille jeered, her face showing no remorse despite her words.

"Mama planned to do the same to you," she continued, "but I told her no. I couldn't do that to my one and only sister, could I?

"After all, what I've planned for you is even better. At the end of today, the entire empire will know you as the woman who assassinated the emperor before turning on her own sister who tried to stop her evil deeds."

"Assassinated? You..the emperor!" Kalina gasped, horrified at the words that were coming out of Lucille's lips.

"That's right. Now, Heinrich will become the next emperor and I will be the empress. Of course, it wouldn't be like this if it weren't for you. Thank you, sister." Lucille beamed and reached out to wipe the tears off Kalina's cheeks, smearing the dirt on her face with her thumb.

"Now that sister has granted me such a favor, I must repay sister back, right?" Lucille's smile began to look less like that of an angel's and more like a devil's. She reached into her dress and took out a small vial of iridescent blue-black liquid and dangled it back and forth in front of Kalina's wide eyes.

"Ah...ahh!" Kalina barely had any time to think before her mouth was wrenched open and the liquid was poured down her throat. Immediately, she felt her throat begin to burn as she tore at her throat with her hands, her soiled nails scratching at the skin until streaks of blood appeared.

She let out guttural screams as she writhed on the ground, the burning feeling spreading through her insides. As she suffered, she saw Lucille watching with an apathetic gaze, as if Kalina was insignificant.

"Nngh.."

Kalina's eyes burned with hatred as blood poured out from her orifices. Her shrieks of pain grew quieter as she lost strength and her convulsing body grew still. Through her blood-red vision, she glimpsed Lucille stand over her and sneer.

"Farewell, sister."

As Lucille's face began to fade, Kalina swore that if she could go back, she would make Lucille pay for her suffering, along with all those that had wronged her. All the things that they had put her through, she would repay ten fold. She clenched her right fist with all her might until finally, her strength gave out and Kalina Rosalind Ephraim was dead.