Lucy Andras (1)

A massive figure settled into his sleek black chair, his deep voice resonating through the expansive office, which held three people.

"What nonsense are you stating!" He forcefully slammed his fist into the table, causing it to snap completely in half.

"F-father..." I'm at a loss for words, "Please believe me..."

My entire body quivered with uncertainty.

"Lucy!" His face turned beet red. He sat up from his chair, his gaze looked down on me.

Father...

Dorian didn't lie this time. 

"I sent you to take that damn necklace and you say he didn't have it?" 

"I... asked him and he said he didn't have it." I was trying to prove my point. That this time Dorian wasn't lying.

"Ask him?" His quivering voice became more apparent, "You just asked him?"

"N-no I-"

"Lucy!" He shouted at me, "Clearly if you ask him, he will lie to your face! His response would undoubtedly be denial!"

"I thought so too- But I used the Memory Gem on him!" I quickly managed to convey the issue to him, "It showed that he had no memories of ever making contact with the soul necklace."

Father's face started to turn neutral. His expression softened, which slowly turned into shock.

"Show me the Memory Gem's history right now." Once again, his voice turned icy as if he refused to trust my words.

I took the Memory Gem out of my white robe and waddled over towards him. The Memory Gem was a bright green gem with a flat-screen.

It was small and frail, but I treasured it deeply.

My mother gave me such a beautiful-looking artifact to me.

Father took the gem from my hands the moment I presented it. His face showed neither disappointment nor excitement. He blankly stared at the gem.

"Lucy..." His voice showed a hint of anger. I was startled again.

"Here you go."

He suddenly put the Memory Gem in my hands and signified me to leave. No more words were exchanged between me and Father as I closed the door to Father's office.

...

"Joseph. Tell Dorian I request a summons for him at my office now."

"Yes, my lord..." Kept concise, Joseph trailed after Lucy through the doorway. 

"Lucy..." A sullen look appeared on his face again.

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Outside Father's office stretched an eternally long hallway with no seeming end to both the left and right of me.

I quickly started walking left, away from the office, and towards my room again.

"Father..." I mumbled again.

He had changed so much that it was hard to recognize who he even was. He's known as the 'Strongest Soul Weapon User' but to me, he was my father. 

He had always taken care of me when I was younger, when Brother and I played in the mansion, he was right there watching us, looking over us.

The conversation I had with Father today left me questioning everything...

Everything seemed to have changed. I couldn't help but wonder what had caused this shift in Father. How come brother Dorian and father changed so drastically? 

I'm already 14, and Brother is already 15.

But it felt like moments ago that me and Brother were playing in the playground. How is it possible for those joyful moments to simply vanish?

I knew why but deep down I didn't want to say it.

It all changed when Dorian's mother died.

I wanted to talk with them like a family again, but after that incident, it was hard to even continue a meaningful conversation with them for more than 5 minutes. 

Dorian became outlandish, and Father turned silent.

Anxiety keeps coursing through me at every present moment with Father. But still...

This hopeless feeling nevertheless draws me towards him...

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I was surrounded by maids and butlers in compensation for their lack of absence, but they never filled this interlude of missing family. A full-fledged family.

In front of me was my mother's door, whose room was placed on the right of mine. The golden color knob was shining brighter than before.

I stopped my hand before I could twist the knob.

Because on the other side, too, was an unrecognizable mother. 

Why was everyone changing?

Spending every day with Mother, as she cried day in and night because of Father's abusive treatment after Dorian's mother died. It was obvious.

It was obvious that Father loved Dorian's mother more, and it broke my mother who loved Father so much. I hesitated in talking with Father a lot after I saw Mother crying in this exact room.

Sob... Sob...

A crying noise became translucent to this white wooden door.

My facial expression started to contort. I dropped my eyes and looked at the knob again.

My hands wouldn't twist it

This wasn't the time to talk to Mother.

Dropping my trembling hand from the doorknob, I decided to leave the door untouched and entered my room alone.

Overcome with a sense of my fragility, exhaustion started taking over my body.

I flopped onto my bed and let my body succumb to exhaustion because I couldn't help but feel this huge void consuming me.

I wanted to talk with Mother today because I wanted to tell her about my mission from Father and how it went.

She always put on an animated face when Father was mentioned.

Mother only listened to me when I talked about Father, I don't understand why she ignored me when I asked about Dorian's mother.

Maybe it was out of jealousy...

I knew Mother was hurt, but she still loved Father... That's why she hadn't left this family yet.

"Mother~..." My puny voice leaked out of my thoughts again. I was all too helpless to convey any of these problems to them. 

I'm only a child...

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"Brother~!..." Why didn't you come to the playground? 

I was by myself sulking on the swings. No power was produced in my body to be able to swing.

The park was physically empty, but it was filled with endless memories of me and Brother playing together.

This little playground was only known to us two, it was hidden further behind Father's estate, it was a little playground hidden in a forest filled with luscious trees.

There was one pair of swings and a slide, it was small but fulfilling.

...

That day Dorian didn't come...

The sun began to go down, and I was upset that I sat there alone the entire day. Distrust and uncertainties began to fill my heart.

Why didn't Brother come?

He promised me...

He promised me that no matter what, each day we would play together. And we did until...

He broke it.

I wandered around the playground until I felt tired. Nonstop tears kept streaming out of my eyes. No matter how hard I tried to stop the tears, they kept falling out.

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The sun was setting already, the sky was already turning dusk.

I was back at the mansion's front garden. It was presented before being greeted with another massive white frame, I couldn't grasp how big it was.

I was wandering in the front garden.

Through dusk, I could hear a person crying. I gravitated toward that noise, and through my blurry vision:

I saw a butler being restrained.

His blonde hair was forcefully shoved to the ground. The butler's pale skin was being roughly retained towards the paving, causing it to bleed. His black suit was torn, and obvious rips in the cloth could be seen.

He forced his face up and revealed his contorted face. His blue eyes were pleading.

"It wasn't me!" Tears kept coming out of his eyes, he kept using them as an assurance of his conviction. His face was all too familiar. Because he was as close as family to me.

To me, he wasn't just any butler. He was kinder than anyone, he took great care of me and was always by my side. Why was he crying? Why was he being restrained?

Just yesterday, he was keeping watch of me until I went to bed. He never left my room and played with me until late because I was sick.

A guard in shining silver armor read a piece of paper in front of him, who was being restrained on the ground, "Butler Ryan Glenn will be sent to execution in 24 hours as per the Duke's request for conviction of first-degree murder of the Duchess yesterday night."

Murder? Ryan had killed a person?

"The Duchess was killed with the use of a soul weapon yesterday night in front of young master Dorian Andras. The testimony and the evidence shown have proved Ryan as the supposed murderer." A little boy was seen next to the talking silver knight.

"Nonsense, I am being framed!" No one listened to his testimonies. "That boy is lying!"

Ryan's pupils dilated, and his blue eyes stared piercing gazes toward the boy hiding behind the knight, who was also sobbing.

"Hick... sob... I'm not lying I saw him!" The boy kept weeping his truth.

His black hair was pulled back and the little boy's grey eyes could be seen. It was Dorian.

I ran onto the scene after seeing Ryan's and Dorian's faces. My little body was propelled forward, racing towards the unfolding scene.

"Ryan!" I wept his name as I witnessed this scene.

He looked mad.

"Dorian... why are you saying Ryan did this?" Confusion ran through my mind. I couldn't believe Ryan was getting hurt.

"Murder! Ryan would never do that!" My testimony was clear-cut. I know Ryan wouldn't do this. Because he was too kind.

Dorian's eyes kept producing tears, he just looked at me blankly.

"Waah~" my sight became blurry.

I once again remembered he had broken it.

Brother broke the promise.

"Why?" My voice kept trembling, "Y-you promised me!"

I was upset at Dorian for trying to take away my family after he had just broken my promise. My brother didn't even have the decency to respond to me.

His tears were still streaming; he simply looked at me as if I were insignificant.

I was completely lost, nothing made sense. But I couldn't just walk away from any of this. I felt as if I was going to lose Dorian and Ryan.

"I am sorry my lady but the Duke has sent this man to execution. There is nothing you can do." The man in clad silver armor looked at me in pity. He completely deflected my words.

Nothing I can do?

"No!" I shouted out of pure confusion and defendance.

My voice wasn't audible to them.

Ryan!

He would never, how could Dorian say it was him?

I tried pushing the other knight restraining Ryan off of him with all my force, but he didn't budge.

"I am sorry my lady..." Another knight came up to restrain me too.

I watched helplessly as Ryan was being dragged away in tears. What was left was me and Dorian looking at each other. He looked as if the entire world ended.

I was released from the other guard's grapple after there was no more noise from Ryan's cries.

Brother turned his back to me, he walked towards the mansion, away from me without saying a single word to me. How could he...

Nothing made sense that day. Everything changed at that moment.

Dorian was walking further and further away from me.

My already hazy vision became blurrier by the relentless crying.

But I could vaguely see it.

The sides of Dorian's checks...

The corner of his mouth was raised.