Chapter 28 - A Broken Ruby
"I have come here to express my gratitude, and to ask for forgiveness as well." The saintess held a guilty expression. "My Lady was kind enough to not leave me alone to fend off the evil. If it weren't for my lady staying back, I could've died....." Her voice was shaking with fear. "But_But..... staying back for me caused my lady to suffer like this... It's my fault, thus I'm here to seek forgiveness from my lady." She said, her eyes lowered, as if ashamed to look up.
"I don't care," Esperanza said. "Past is something that I cannot remember, so I don't care. You can leave now." She abruptly paused and spoke again. "I can't trust your words. I'm someone who knows nothing. So, you could have come to manipulate me. So leave now." She said, her blue eyes trying to look into the saintess, trying to observe the saintess's even slightest difference in facial expression. But the saintess's face was as calm as ever when she smiled. She stood up and opened the door. Suddenly, she looked back with a charming smile reflecting on her face.
"My Lady, you may not trust me, but remember one thing: I will never manipulate you." She said and walked off. Esperanza stared at the door, where the saintess's figure slowly disappeared. She felt that uncomfortable tug on her heart once again. She buried her head in her knees.
"How could I know..... when the person who was supposed to know is no longer here..." She muttered. "I'm just someone helpless placed in her position."
...
A petal fell off.
Another fell off.
Another fell off.
A total of seven petals fell off, indicating it was her seventh's birthday. The young girl stared at the vase with her enchanting ruby eyes. Alas, those enchanting eyes were smeared with tears. Her raven hair was all messed up with drops of water falling from it, her dress torn apart, and her feet were bare. This was her present appearance. The young girl grasped the seventh petal that fell off. The seventh one wilted as soon as it fell in her palm. She stared at it for a few minutes before falling to her knees.
Her fragile body quivered. She barely managed to stand up with the help of the table. She looked out of the window, at the stormy rain. Thunder rambled. The lamps extinguished. The windows shuddered as if the storm was threatening to rage in.
Yet, nobody was here except her. Nobody.
She's just the broken ruby of her clan.
And nobody values a broken ruby.
The young girl let out a series of laughter until she collapsed.
Eleven petals fell off.
The young girl, now looking a bit grown up, arranged the flowers in the case. The night was still cold. The palace was lit up with lanterns, the laughter of the nobles, the music, and the main protagonist's joy. Yet, she was here, alone in her lonely Villa. That was how pathetic could be the life of the only princess of the demon clan. There was a knock on her door. Something slid down the door and entered her sight. She bent up and picked it. It was a letter, tied with a small box.
She opened the small box and found a small necklace in it. She stared at it curiously, and then remembered that necklace was to be tied around her neck. She wore it and looked in the mirror. The necklace was wonderful: small and light, simple, lovely but not too eye-catching. She then untied the knot around the letter and read the single line written on it.
Happy Birthday. Be happy.
She smiled. At least, there was someone in this world who remembered her birthday. Maybe she was not completely alone in this cruel world.
But she soon realized it was her wishful thinking.
She was nothing but a piece of jewellery waiting to be sold off. A broken ruby to be decorated.
When thirteen petals fell off, she was engaged with the duke of the demon clan. But his indulgence in pleasure turned her reluctant. She barely managed to escape that engagement. However, nothing comes of free in this world. She was set on countless confidential tasks. Her hands were stained with blood. Her nights were restless. Her hands trembled as she looked at them, questioning to herself which might be the next life they would consume.
When the fourteenth petal fell off, life changed drastically with the appearance of a single girl.
That evening, the beautiful pink-orange light hit the girl with white hair. When she caught her, she looked into her eyes. For a second, she was startled. Those eyes were too lifeless. In that single second, when she held that girl's hand, she could feel pain hidden in her. The agony which she might never be able to know.
Isn't she just foolish?
She already knows that the young lady is using her to achieve her goals. She's a useful servant to her. She already knows what is designed for her is a sweet trap, waiting for her to fall in. Yet, she readily is willing to fall into it.
Because of the brightness of life she never experienced, the happy moments, those annoying times when her heart beats fast. That annoying feeling of contentment. She wants it. Her heart yearns for it.
Congratulations, you're in love.
Another anonymous message. She's been receiving letters from an anonymous person since her childhood. Those letters comfort her, telling them that even if it is someone she might never know, there is someone who cares about her in this world. Someone willing to guide her. Maybe she had already realized this feeling would have been love because she was unfazed by the sentence.
No longer there is a single person who cares about her, but two.
They will be with her forever.
These happy moments will last forever.....
Won't they?
YOU ARE READING
Oblivion Of The Heart
Historical Fiction[Ongoing] "Why is being myself harder than anything?" Qing Lin closed her eyes. A girl whose smile gave off the effulgence which seemed to light the diminished world around her. A girl who held such purity in a world surrounded by happiness. A girl...
