1 chapter 1

the crows settled on the arch of the grand gate leading to the manor of meral. a carriage comes to a stop at the doors of the manor. the moon hung itself in an ominous manner, the bright blue hue shined its way for the lady in the carriage to rearrange her hair in preparation to see her 'beloved' family. the doors of the carridge creaked open, and a carefully detailed heel made its first step out. dressed in full black and decorated with blood red rubies was luna meral, the second eldest daughter of the house of merals. she grinned as she tilted her head upwards to meet the gaze of the moon and crows, ever so softly saying,

'and i'm back again, at this horrifying home.'

'welcome home my lady.'

the servants and butlers chants the greeting as they bowed to pay respect to luna. luna gracefully raised her hand to show that they could rise from their bow. a servant took the heavy cloak luna handed to her and dismissed herself. luna shook her head slightly, letting the stray hair curls that laid on her shoulders fall back. luna regained her posture and started making her way to her assigned bedroom.

her assigned bedroom was spacious and the interior design was looking luxurious as ever. but luna wasn't concerned about such materialistic things. there were more serious issues on her mind. in a few more hours she would have to make her way downstairs to see her family, and face the wrath of them again after 5 years. luna sighed as she leaned against her vanity table, she was already very tired from the long carriage ride, and now she have to deal with her troublesome family too. anya, who was always good at observing luna's expressions immediately went over to comfort her.

'my lady, do you want some tea to freshen up before the dinner?'

'no, there's no need for that. just let me take a short break.'

'it's going to be fine my lady, time have changed, we are different now. and count alzer isn't able to make it to dinner tonight so it makes it more bearable doesn't it my lady?"

luna gave anya a weak smile before leaning back against the table again. anya was right, at least her most hated person wasn't attending tonight's dinner. but the most annoying person is. lauriana. just thinking about her makes luna's head hurt. but what other choice does she have but to face her directly? luna inhaled a deep breathe and sat back up again. she looked at the mirror and picked up a lipstick lying beside her arm. she coated another deep red layer of lipstick over her lips and used her hand to smooth it out. yes, she doesn't have a choice, she has to face her disgusting family. in fact it was only the beginning to the very rocky path she would walk.