Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – Once Kind and Gentle

Slap!

A veiny hand struck a soft cheek so hard that the sound chimed through the space around them. The little boy’s head throbbed as his petite palm held his reddened face.

The vicious hand belonged to a woman. She had struck a child several times smaller than her. There was no sign of remorse, just furious, bloodshot eyes clouding her features with eerie malevolence.

Falling onto the grass, the boy incessantly whimpered; his hands desperately tried to stop the tears streaming down his cheeks which were now a deep shade of red.

“I-I’m-so-sorry, Mother-” His sobs were interspersed with apologies to the woman before him, head bowed in a bid to cover his bruised face.

“Will apologizing fix all your mistakes, Hir?” the woman asked, in a sweet yet vile tone.

Trying to get his words out, the boy replied with a shaking voice. “Tha-that was a mistake … h-hu.”

“Do you expect me to believe that?” The woman’s voice grew seemingly louder. “Must I deal with your lies every day?!”

Right when he thought he had reached the limit of his grief, his sky-blue eyes brimmed with tears.

Viscount Marshmell’s wife showed no mercy towards the child as a predator would show no mercy to prey. Even with blood dripping from his injured limbs, the woman seemed unfazed by his pleas.

“I don’t want to see your pathetic face any longer.”

The boy quickly turned his head towards the apathetic woman in disbelief. “Mo-mother, I was wrong please forgive. This won’t happen again. I’ll try harder! Please!” He begged, his voice was overwhelmed with panic.

“There’s no use for you here. You broke my favorite vase.” Her stiff face was seething with rage.

By now it had dawned upon the little boy that a broken vase would decide his fate.

The strike had started to leave its marks, his face was rapidly swelling, a light shade of blue was swiftly invading his red cheeks. His hands and feet were not dismissed from contributing to this abhorrent scene as they too were pierced with sharp shards of the shattered vase. Even then, he continued to plead knowing well it was futile. “H-Hu … Mother please! I can explain!”

“I care not a whit about your explanation. Shut your mouth and get out of this house immediately,” the woman said, nonchalantly.

Her cold and callous voice, sent shivers down Hir’s spine. The little boy cowered closer to the ground as if silently praying for mercy.

The woman looked down at the pitiful boy, prostrating on the ground with disdain. To her, he was a scum, a pathetic existence whose very sight repulsed her. She refused to stay in the same place as him. Viciously, she struck him with her foot, then hauled him from his collar and towards the door. “Don’t make me say it twice.” She declared, as she shoved him at the entrance of the house.

As the initial shock started to wither, with trembling eyes, the boy looked towards the woman. His lips parted in a bid to make a last plea, but words failed him. Little by little, he gathered himself and with quivering limbs tried to stand up.

The shadow of the merciless stepmother still stood tall behind him, but he dared not turn towards it. Reluctantly, he ambled towards the threshold, and stepped out. It was only now that he mustered the courage to look back at the wide set of doors that were permanently closing on him.

His eyes took in the entirety of the house, the only world he had known up until now and stowed it away as a memory deep in his heart. Desolate and forlorn, he arrived at a foregone conclusion that a hapless and helpless child such as him would not get far in this harsh and ruthless world.

However, Mrs. Marshmell couldn’t care less.

“Again, I said I will not repeat myself. Are you so dense that you cannot even understand that?”

Hir tried again just for the sake of it. “Mo-mother … I was wrong, I was very wrong..”

With her nearly demonic violet eyes, the woman cast away Hir with words that would continue to haunt him for the rest of his life before slamming the door on his face. “You shouldn’t have been born.”

BANG!

“No matter how many times I’ve read this, I can’t stand reading this part at all!” The woman, whose nose was buried in the novel, suddenly slammed the book a little roughly on her desk. The weather today was fine, but her mood was dampened by the novel she was reading.

In this novel, Mrs. Marshmell was someone that was the very definition of atrocity. Her entire demeanor was absolutely savage, no amount of words would suffice in describing her cold, villainess personality.

“Lila Marshmell.” The name easily rolled off her tongue.

Lila was born a commoner, yet no one could deny the beauty she possessed. Her family had known and loved her for her kind, gentle personality, with her exceptional beauty she was fated to become the village lord’s concubine.

A few days before Lila’s wedding to the village lord, she was sucked into a supernatural phenomenon. An entity, from an unknown world, possessed her body. In possession of her body, Lila escaped from the village with almost no belongings. For a commoner such as her, it wouldn’t have been easy to flee the clutches of the village lord, in a way this entity was her blessing in disguise.

She was also only a supporting character in the novel. That said, no details were written on how she had managed to achieve this impossible feat.

She was a beautiful woman with a pure, lily-like appearance. Hair, light blonde, and eyes so beautiful that could only be compared to that of a glittering amethyst. One glimpse of her limpid eyes and they would be forever etched in the person’s mind. Her angelic appearance and saintly aura made for a lasting impression on those that encountered her, leaving no room for doubt and distrust.

Little wonder that she soon became the wife of the wealthy, divorced Viscount Marshmell.

After their small wedding, the viscount was infected with an unusual disease that proved to be fatal. A funeral was held shortly thereon, and as an aftermath of her husband’s death Mrs Marshmell’s entire demeanor underwent a drastic change; her angelic façade shattered revealing her true colors.

Gone was the kind and gentle Lila. Or is it still her?