Wingless Angel

A month slowly passed by and Lucille's reputation steadily worsened among the noble ladies and the workers at the mansion.

Every time Kalina and her friends met up to chat, Lucille would tag along. The girls liked to converse about light topics such as fashion trends or how their tutoring lessons were going.

Lucille didn't know much about those subjects so she pouted and ate snacks for the entire gathering. The girls, who didn't have a good impression of her in the first place, were all annoyed by her actions.

The workers didn't like her any better, though it was mainly because of Nessa's outrageous behavior. She would throw things at them if they mentioned the Duchess or slap them if they were late to serve her.

The noble ladies disliked Lucille because of an irritating habit and the servants disliked her because of her mother's actions. They were trivial reasons, but in reality, they were finding any reason to scorn her because of Kalina and the Duchess.

Lucille had begun to notice that she was being treated differently than Kalina. The servants that bowed to Kalina when she walked by ignored her when she passed them. Some even dared to glare at her, a noble lady!

It was nothing like the noble treatment Nessa had told her about. Her mother reminded her every day that she was a noble lady, but she didn't feel like it at all.

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"Miss, what's wrong? You look upset." Eva, Lucille's only maid who was sent over from Kalina's side, asked while cleaning Lucille's room.

Lucille was sitting on her bed while hugging one of her stuffed toys. She turned to her maid and cried out: "Eva! You're the only one who treats me so nicely. Everyone else is so cold to me!"

Eva remembered Kalina's orders to boost Lucille's ego as much as possible. Smiling, she walked to Lucille's side and said: "How could they? You're so pretty and your status is much higher than theirs."

"But no one bows to me when I walk in the hallways...they always bow to Sister, but not me." Lucille clutched her plushie tighter.

Eva took one of Lucille's hands and stroked it softly. "They must be jealous of you, Lady Lucille," she said. "All the servants here are commoners and envy Lady Lucille who has risen in status."

"Including Eva?"

"Yes, including me. However, I would never harm Lady Lucille." Eva played the part of a loyal maid although her loyalty lay elsewhere.

Lucille threw her arms around Eva. Even her mother had never treated her this sincerely. She felt like Eva was the only one she could rely on and trust in the unfamiliar and cold mansion, apart from Kalina.

"How about reintroducing yourself, Lady Lucille?"

"Reintroducing? What's that?"

"Maybe when you first met Lady Kalina's friends, you made them misunderstand something about you. This time, you should take the initiative to reach out to them and show them who you really are."

Every word that Eva spoke had been passed to her by Kalina. Only later would she find out what Kalina meant.

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Following Eva's advice, Lucille invited the girls to have a picnic near a lake that was located on the mansion's grounds. The lake was very beautiful, and was surrounded by silvery flowers that reflected off the clear surface of the lake.

It was nearing the end of winter, so the lake that had been frozen over had thawed, but the water was still icy.

"Welcome, everyone!" Lucille greeted the girls cheerily. She dressed more modestly this time, in a rosy pink dress with a sky blue coat over top. The only accessories she wore were a pair of tiny earrings that sparkled as she moved.

The girls could tell Lucille was making an effort to approach them, so they decided to put aside their bad first impressions and start anew.

There was a gazebo right by the lake that had already been prepared. Flowers and ribbons decorated the space. It had a refreshing and girly feel that the noble ladies loved.

They chatted, ate snacks, and complimented each other for a while. The girls started opening up to Lucille, and everything seemed to be going as planned.

That was, until Kalina showed up. The noble ladies had been wondering where Kalina, the star of their friend group was, but they didn't ask in case it made Lucille upset. Now that she had arrived, everyone crowded around her to ask why she was late.

"Truthfully, I didn't know you all were here. I was out for a walk and I heard laughter, so I came to investigate...who would've thought you had all gathered here?"

Seeing how Kalina was dressed even simpler than Lucille, in a lilac colored dress made for wearing at home, she seemed to be telling the truth.

Since she hadn't known that they were visiting...could it be that Lucille had purposefully excluded her? No matter what the circumstances were, they were sisters. It wasn't right to bully each other. It seemed like Lucille was trying to steal away Kalina's friends.

"Do you mind if I join you? I'm not intruding on anything, right, Lucille?"

Why did the daughter of the legal wife have to ask permission from an illegitimate child? The noble ladies felt even more conflicted as they assured Kalina she could stay.

The group of young ladies left the gazebo and walked on a path that encircled the lake. Now that Kalina was here, everyone crowded around her and walked in the front while Lucille was left behind.

Lucille felt like crying. Why couldn't she have anything? She had almost gotten closer to the ladies, but Kalina had shown up and stolen the spotlight.

Why did she have to be satisfied with the scraps Kalina left behind? She'd have to walk in her sister's shadow forever. People would only know her as Kalina's sister, not Lucille.

A gentle breeze blew through Kalina's hair. It swept to the side, framing her smiling face. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes were bright. She was an angel that had descended.

Lucille was like an angel without wings. Even if she was now a Duke's daughter, what good was she? No one would ever look at her or pay her any attention. They were all too mesmerized by Kalina's beautiful wings to even look at the angel who was unlucky enough to be born without wings.

If only she could tear off Kalina's wings and make them her own. If only Kalina didn't exist, maybe she could have been born the angel instead.

Without realizing, she had stretched her hands towards Kalina's back, as if she really were trying to rip off her wings.

"Watch out!" Someone screamed, seeing what the girl was about to do.

Kalina turned around, but it was too late. Her body was pushed backwards by Lucille's outstretched arms and she fell towards the freezing water behind her. Her eyes were wide and her open mouth only said one word.

"Lucille?"