Home Sweet Home

And before I knew it, I was all alone.

While traveling, many things happened. What was supposed to be just a normal journey had turned into quite the adventure due to a single mishap.

On my way, I was accompanied by many different people.

Estella - the little maid that was like a child, Gerald - the enemy who was too friendly for his own good and Seraph - a cold girl who should have pursued a career in acting. It was a rather diverse bunch.

Nontheless, it's only when I was alone that I could be myself the most.

There's no particular reason for that, except for the fact that humans are creatures shaped by their surroundings. The environment, emotional state and peers all have an influence on a persons behavior. It's just something we were programmed to do.

Some people with a stronger personality could withstand more pressure and in the end still stay true towards themselves, while others would crumble upon meeting anything unexpected.

I'd like to believe that I'm part of the first group. However, even the greatest fortress would cave in under relentless barrage and a small scratch is still a wound.

Don't misunderstand, there's nothing wrong with being influenced by others, but I don't like it.

It's usually me who beguiles the masses, so I couldn't stand it when I myself am being manipulated, even if it's due to my own mind.

This was what it means to stay true to yourself after all. And I could only do that when I was alone. So this solitary state was a welcome one.

Well, it was boring, though.

The reality here is that the scenery hardly changed. Fields, forests, mountains, there will be a time where even I would run out of words to describe them. The bright sun and the wind was as warm as ever.

The whole scenery was an example of entropy as it all boiled down to one thing - as we humans keep changing, nature stayed the same.

Or maybe the perspective of a nihilist would be more adequate here, because I simply didn't care.

Ah, I wanna kill someone.

Whoops, I should get rid of those unholy thoughts.

Nevertheless, if a fool were to deliver himself to me, that would be nice.

I tightened my grip on the cloth containing Estella's skull.

The essence of my self was that I'm a swindler. But over time, it had evolved into much more than that.

My first heist was for money.

It's simple really, the only financial source, my mother, died unexpectedly leaving me and my sister without any means. My father, well, let's not talk about him. Just thinking about it annoyed me.

My second heist was for stability.

In an effort to create an environment where my sister would not have to live in fear of being poor, I risked everything I had again, so that she could have a life full of leisure.

My third heist was for glory.

To get only money, it wasn't enough. Funny thing is, one of my partners who had been with me since the beginning was actually pretty well off. Imagine my shock when I found out. When I asked him why he chose to go down the path of crime, he simply told me one thing: Fame.

It was only later that I realized he was right. Money was of no use if one couldn't hold on to it. If one didn't have the authority to do so.

Afterwards, I did it out of boredom. What else was there left for me, since I accomplished everything?

I can't remember when I had become that way, but I realized, wealth, fame, influence they were just excuses I made.

What I really wanted was to see the despair. The anguish of humans trying really hard and giving everything, but still losing. I loved it. It would send a tingling sensation down my spine and every time I could crush the people who had the guts to go against me, I'd be filled with exhilaration.

In the truest sense, pitting against each other, betting everything we had, that was the ultimate form of purity. That was what life was about.

As long as I knew that, it wouldn't matter where I am, who I am or when I am.

I am me, I am Agnes the bastard of nobility, who was worse than a commoner.

Lost in my thoughts, I walked mindlessly and before I knew it, I stumbled upon another town. Only that this one was significantly bigger.

"Excuse me, am I in the D'Anele territory," I asked the first farmer I saw since I parted ways with Seraph.

"Yes miss, that is the case," an old man covered in dirt answered. He was tending to his crops just a moment ago.

I breathed a sigh of relief, finally I had found it.

"Do you perhaps know where the lords manor is?"

"Sure I do, it's only half an hour from here," he laughed heartily, "are you looking to be a servant?"

A servant, I thought about what he said. The first thing that came to my mind was Estella. In his eyes, I might really look like a commoner.

When I was in the lake, I got most of the blood out of my garments, but there were still some stains left. Also, the dress was ripped beyond repair. If we combine that with my messy hair and thin appearance, I could understand why he though that way.

I replied, "yes, something like that."

"I see, I see. It's good for youngsters to have ambition," he nodded, "but if I may, I would choose another place if I were you."

"Oh, how come?"

"I've heard that an important marriage was annulled, and now the whole household is in turmoil," he sighed, "the current lord has been preparing his retirement since a while now, and one of his sons is acting as a proxy. Alas, when the lord officially steps down, things will only get harsher."

That sounded interesting.

"Why, is the current son incapable," I asked out of curiosity, but to my surprise, he immediately stopped me from talking further.

"Watch out what you say, missy," he pressed his finger against his chapped lips, "if anybody heard that we'd both get in trouble."

He put his sickle down.

"It's not that he is inept, rather I'd say that he is quite competent. But he has a temper. How should I put it," the old man held his hand to his chin, "it's that his leadership is not adequate? Do you get what I mean?"

"You are saying that he has no charisma."

"Not so loud," he urged, and glanced side to side, "those words are absolutely taboo right now. If he heard you, he'd kill you on the spot and raise the taxes again. He's fickle like that."

"Isn't that a bit overboard."

"I think so too, but for the nobles, I guess leadership is just that important. I mean, we here in this fief would also want to like him, it's just that he's missing something. I can't quite pinpoint it, but everyone has the same opinion as me."

Well, what a nice thing to hear on my first day here. My first impression didn't leave any positive prospects for the future, that's for sure.

"Thank you for the advice, but I still have to go there," I smiled.

"Haa, you kids never want to listen to your elders," he pointed behind him," alright follow the road over there. Be careful."

"I'll be taking my leave then," I said and bowed slightly.

I understood what he meant, though. In other words even though he had the skills, the public didn't like him as a person.

It must be really frustrating to do everything right and still not be well received.

Just like the farmer had said, it really only took half an hour to reach the estate.

Although it wasn't as big as the Kings manor, it could still hold it's own weight. The estate was a gothic mansion with an extensive garden. The roof was steep and hipped while the walls were made out of limestone and decorated with statues of angels. In each corner was a tower. Two were round while another two were facetted. Due to the use of flying buttresses, there was no tribune level, causing the house to be higher, giving an opportunity for larger windows. The windows were rose colored and embroidered with stone.

The whole building put a big emphasis on symmetry. The proportions created a harmony and the architecture was calming.

I was about to enter through the iron gate, but was halted by one of the guards.

"Stop right there, state business with the D'Anele household," he said with a stern expression.

Huh, that couldn't be right?

Had they already forgotten how I looked like?

No matter what, I was still part of the household. I should have grown up in this place, how could they possibly forget who I am.

Shocked, I replied, "it's me Agnes, the Dukes granddaughter."

The guard was confused, "who?"

"A-g-n-e-s, forget it just go ask the Duke, he can vouch for me."

the guard was still suspicious, but seeing how adamant I was, he nodded and then promptly left.

So I stood there alone while some servants stared at me with interest.

After a while he returned. I was just about to walk in, but judging from the guards behavior, it appeared that something unexpected occurred.

"I have to ask you to leave. There's no such person as you in this household."

I furrowed my brows, "what do you mean there's no such person, is that what the Duke said? I somehow find that hard to believe."

I didn't make the way here so that I could be rejected right in front of the gate.

However, the guard felt different about that matter, he said, "I spoke to the person managing the fiefdom. He clearly stated that an Agnes was not part of the family. There was no mistaking it."

"I told you to ask the Duke didn't I?"

"Miss, it's only out of good faith that I am still talking to you," he came closer, "if you keep on insisting, don't blame me if I had to use force."

My god, this had gotten annoying. I ran my hand through my long hair and glared at him.

I clicked my tongue, "try it if you can."

The guards eyes widened in astonishment but he soon composed himself. He let out a sigh and prepared to draw his sword. Just as I was thinking about my next course of actions, a crisp voice echoed from inside the manor.

"Still as unrefined as ever I see."

The owner of that condescending tone was a girl slightly older than me. With slightly, I meant that she was maybe 17 at most. Similar to me, she had black hair and deep blue eyes. There were also some differences, though. While I had upturned eyes, hers were droopy and instead of leaving her hair long and flow-ey, she arranged them in a bun. As she was more mature, her body had correspondingly developed, but it wasn't at the level where I would call her a woman, yet.

Surrounding her was an entourage of similar aged people that looked about the same as us.

The defining factor which differentiated me between them was that I had a less healthy lifestyle, and that instead of having sharp eyes, theirs were filled with innocence.

"Oh, and who might you be," I politely asked.

"Don't tell me that you have already forgotten us after you got engaged to the prince," she laughed and hid her face with a fan, "oh wait I forgot to ask, how is it going with him?"

No for real, who the hell was this girl. Even though I met her for the first time, she was already showing such hostility, that's not a good way to make friends, you know?

"Shouldn't you worry about yourself first, where's your prince," I asked her, fully aware that there wasn't anyone available.

Why else would she be residing in the house. Also, there wasn't a ring on her finger, so I didn't really understand what gave her the right to judge me.

As expected, she flew into a rage, "that's got nothing to do with anything, I'm voluntarily single, you hear me."

"Well there's nothing wrong with that, everyone has their shortcomings."

I shrugged my shoulders.

"You've gotten awfully cocky after you came back," she swung her fan around, her face began turning red, "in spite of the fact that you had your marriage annulled and brought shame to our household."

Geez, guess I hit a sore spot. She should learn to relax a bit.

"Sister Raya, you got it wrong, that bastard does not belong to our household," a younger person chimed in.

Hearing that the girl named Raya calmed down a bit, "that's right, there's no way someone as distinguished as the prince would have fallen for a servants daughter. You must have used some despicable means to get engaged with him."

Her statement made me tilt my head in confusion, "are you saying that you would be better for him?"

Hearing what I said, she blushed a bit, but immediately returned to her usual aggressive mood, "that's right, anyone would be better than you."

"Even though you are inferior than me?"

A sudden silence engulfed us, neither Raya, her group, the guards or the servants secretly listening, said something.

It was Raya who decided to be the ice breaker, "y, you, you dare," she threw her fan on the ground, and began stomping around, "you half blood who was born from a commoner, you wench, actually wants to compete with me, someone born to the mother of a marquis?"

"Yes, why wouldn't I. No matter what you say, we are still both part of the same household and we are still too young to possess any merits. So the only deciding factor is our beauty. How could you, whose mother married into the Duke's family using her title, be more charming than me, whose mother made it despite being a commoner. Doesn't that already say a lot about who has the superior heritage?"

It was the truth, I don't know if it's because I'm currently the owner of the body, but I did feel that I was more attractive than the person before me.

She wasn't actually bad looking, but if I were to give an example using the people I had met, then she'd be slightly lower to Estella. When it comes to Seraph, uh, that girl was unfair, so she didn't count.

"I've never met someone as shameless as you."

Her expression turned completely dark and her eyebrows formed a sharp arrow pointing downwards. She charged up for a slap with her hand, but I skillfully dodged it. I didn't fight those bandits for nothing, you know.

Seeing that she couldn't wound me, she chose to verbally attack instead, "Agnes, the behavior you are showing is absolutely unbecoming for the Dukes granddaughter," she said in a extremely low voice.

"Ah, good job, that's exactly what I wanted to hear," I replied gleefully.

Perplexed, she asked me, "what do you mean," but I ignored her.

"Hey you stupid guard, you heard her say it for yourself right, now let me in."

The person I was referring to had been standing like a stone statue for a while now, unable to move. It took my voice for him to actually snap out of his daze.

"But the lord said-"

"Forget what the lord said, you probably got it wrong," I shook my hand, "but if you make another mistake, I'll personally go for your head, you hear me?"

The guard stiffened up and shouted, "yes, milady!"

Satisfied by his reaction, I made my way into the the building.

"Hey, we aren't done, yet" a certain girl yelled behind my back.

"No, I'm pretty sure we are," I told her, without turning around. As I walked in, I closed the door behind me, shutting the group outside.

To start a verbal fight with me, she sure was daring.