2: Bitter Blues

"Owww…"

I carefully applied medicine to my bleeding calves. The cream was cool and soothing as I rubbed it into my skin. I took a deep breath and tried to relax. I knew that it would take some time for my calves to heal, but I was confident that the medicine would help.

'That blasted the kitchen maid! How can you hit a child like this!'

Fanny, one of the kitchen maids, hit me for causing such noise after dropping the bellows. She commanded me to pick it back up and fan the fire till its temperature satisfied her.

My legs were in pain for two hours straight.

It was a relief she finally grew tired of hitting me. I was lucky I was not grown, for I did not know how much more I could take if I was told to serve the duchy family as well.

So I went back to my room, and here we are.

Now, I had all the time to take in the revelation that there was no hero for me.

'There is no doubt; I am in 'Bitter blues'.'

There was no way I was mistaken. How could it have passed me like this?

No other novel, or at least the ones I've read, had a duchy with a duke named Delacroix. Besides, Delacroix was the surname of my favourite broken villain, Alcestè Delacroix!

How blind was I? How far up my ass was I not to notice?

"My sweet Alcestè Delacroix, you were here the entire time!"

I felt like a fan who failed at being a fan.

However, this was not the time to grovel about not meeting your idol.

If I really was in 'Bitter blues', then I am fucked. Really, really fucked.

You see, this was not a novel where the cold hero wins the girl, and they get their happily ever after. It's a tragic novel, one shrouded with darkness,vengeance and death.

Alcestè Delacroix, the main character and villain, had his life shrouded in nothing but pain and endless misery.

His father, Calder Delacroix, was a man obsessed with power. He was farthest in line from succession in a family of 4 children. His brothers and sisters surpassed him in many ways, and this filled him with jealousy. Using dark magic, he killed his brother the previous Grand Duke, along with the rest of their family, and took the seat for himself. He imprisoned his brother's wife, Alcestè's mother, who had the greatest divine power, and forced her to bear his child. Calder, who was now eyeing the greatest seat of all, the throne, wanted to use the child born of divinity and magic to take it.

His mother hated what fate brought upon her, and hated and despised the duke and the unborn child in her womb. However, when Alcestè was born, she looked into his innocent eyes, and could not hate him. She saw that he too was a victim of Calder's craziness, and if he stayed here, he would be nothing more than a puppet.

She attempted to run as far away as she could with the child, but she could only go so far. Before she could enter the forest, she was slain and killed, leaving the boy alone in this world.

When Calder checked the boy to see if he got the powers he had wished for, he was disappointed, gravely disappointed. So much so that he absolutely despised the child, calling him an 'utter and complete failure'. He abandoned the child, thinking it would die soon. But Alcestè survived, and the slightly amused Calder once again changed his methods.

He would turn the boy into a weapon that would assure him the throne.

Thus started his horrible life. Unlike his half siblings, he was never given anything nice. Every year, his father would feed him the dangerous 'Witch's Seed', a deadly poison, yearly, just so he could be dangerous. A normal person would be eradicated the moment the poison even grazed their skin, but Alcestè survived it, barely. The poison coursed through him, slowly deteriorating him, but Calder did not care about him.

To him, Alcestè was simply a tool for his plans; and if he wasn't up to the task, Calder would simply get rid of him.

Alcestè had no choice but to survive.

By the time he was of age, the poison was already him. His entire body was poisonous, so poisonous that even his blood could kill anyone who came in contact with it.

Calder was overjoyed at the weapon he had created, and decided that it was time to take what was his; the throne.

However, what he failed to notice was that he indeed created a weapon; a weapon that would destroy him. Alcestè, who was now nothing more than a man devoid of any emotions, brutally massacred his entire family at eighteen years old. The novel described is as a 'grisly, gut-wrenching scene, where bodies covered every part of the mansion and their blood seeping endlessly into the soil, killing whatever organisms lay underneath, making the soil unable to produce anything ever again'.

The last person he killed was his father, with whom he fed his blood, and watched with a sadistic smile as he gurgled and formed in his mouth as the poison worked its way through him. He died a horrible death, much too merciful compared to the years of torment he caused his son.

One would think it would end there; unfortunately, it wasn't so. His father's dark wishes were already etched deep into his mind. He chose to go get what his father wanted; the throne. He would take what he wanted for himself, so that he could spite him as he watched him from hell.

Thus began his coup, and he murdered the entire royal family and anyone who got in his way, and declared himself the new emperor of the country of Cotia.

He reigned for three years as the cruel tyrant whose seat was bathed in blood.

In his third year, as he engaged in a Cold War against the resistance, he met the female lead, Claudette Herschel.

Claudette, the daughter of Margrave Herschel, was a saintess of the goddess Nari, and one of the leaders of the resistance. She did not agree to the tyranny of the current emperor, and joined hands with her father, along with other nobles to fight him off.

Alcestè, enraged and slightly intrigued at the fact that a woman could openly defy him in front of his subjects, locked Claudette up in the palace. He mockingly told her to either tell the resistance to stop, or she cures him of the Witch's Seed, and he would grant any wish she desired.

It was an impossible thing to do; to cure Witch's Seed; yet she agreed. If she succeeded, the resistance would win, she told herself. She also sought to find a way to change him, or at the very least change his mind.

She did not know that the two would steal each other's hearts, and fall in love amidst it all.

She became his very anchor; she guided him to make good choices, and showed him that the world can be beautiful. But Alcestè, who was too deep in darkness, could not easily change his ways, even if he loved Claudette.

And when Claudette realised this, it was already too late.

While she was in the palace, Alcestè, already consumed by his darkness, silently wiped out nearly all the resistance, just to keep her by his side. Her father and all her friends, and even the church was wiped out by him. It was Gregory, Alcestè's older brother and the sole survivor of his family's massacre, who came to tell Claudette the truth. She realised that she could not change him, much less save him.

In bitterness and despair, she could only think of one thing to do.

With her hands, she would end the empire's tyranny and free Alcestè from his darkness. She would free him, and free the empire.

So, during the day of the goddess, she drove her sword into his chest straight through his heart and killed him.

She arose and became the empress, and Cotia, during her reign, experienced tranquillity.

Such a tragic novel.

Majority of the novel was written from the perspective of Alcestè, and the later parts in Claudette's, because during the climax Alcestè got consumed by his darkness, transforming him into a villain filled with obsession towards the only person who could keep him sane.

I was sad when he was killed. His entire life was tragic.

Even from the start, I was mad that he wasn't given a chance at redemption. After all, he was merely broken. However, as I reread the novel, I understood why he had to die.

Claudette wanted him to be free of the darkness placed on him by his family; only then could Alcestè be at peace.

There was simply no chance for redemption for him.

"But…there could be now."

I, a huge lover of this novel, armed with the knowledge of what happens in the book, can influence Alcestè's fate.

This faithful servant will transform the derelict lead into a caring man who will bring an end to his father's tyranny without turning evil, and live a good life with the female lead.

He deserved it.

Plus, I did not like how the ending of the novel hinted that Claudette had a possible relationship with Gregory Delacroix.

Sure, he may have realized the error of his father's ways at the end, but he still played a part in Alcestè being the way he was.

The fact that he, along with other characters who clearly played a part in the abuse of my male lead, got a chance at redemption and Alcestè did not still stirs me to the bone!

'I get it is tragedy, but isn't it playing favorites?'

"No matter. I am here now, and I will assure my favorite's future, no matter what!"

"…"

"…"

"…Will I really be able to do it?"

It was not going to be easy; I was only ten years old, and a maid at that. Also, this novel wasn't exactly flowers and roses. It was dark, with danger basically at every corner.

And, during the massacre of the duchy, every person inside was killed, including the maids. If I choose to remain ignorant, then I, a background character, would meet my death.

'Come to think of it, it wouldn't be so bad to be killed by my favorite.'

I slapped my cheeks in retaliation. Death was painful, and Alcestè killed with his sword and poisonous blood. As much as I liked his character, I should not curse myself like this!

'But how will I get close to him?'

Ugh! Why are there so many setbacks?!