[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...
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Esperanza was surprisingly unfazed at the sudden voices which whispered to her. The temperature of the room seemed to drop bit by bit, and the light in the lamp was getting dim minute by minute. A peal of cold, terrifying laughter echoed in the room.
Love? How foolish. Love is worthless but vengeance is worth it.
The voice thundered. Esperanza turned around in all directions, in hope of finding the one who was speaking. However, she didn't seem to find the person. Almost.... as if the person was invisible.
Do you want to know your story?
The voice whispered. The offer was tempting to be refused. Of course, she was curious about herself. She wanted to know about the past. She didn't want to be this helpless as she is, easy to be manipulated. She nodded her head and the laughter echoed again. Suddenly, she was no longer in her room. Everything around her was dark with only the faint glimmer of stars. She was floating within a vacuum. Beneath her was a mirror that shattered the moment she looked at her reflection. The shards flew all over the place, reflecting the faces of strangers.
Memories of betrayal gushed in. Feeble, confused, and astray was what Esperanza felt. There was excruciating pain in her heart as if someone had literally stabbed her. The memories were recollecting bit by bit, from the very beginning, slowly filling the emptiness of her heart. When they were one complete piece, she was finally aware of the bitter truth of the world, the cruel truth about her life.
But she refused to accept it. Why must she be the one to endure it? Why must she bear the sins destiny has weighed upon her when she did nothing wrong? Why, must she, an innocent person die, when a vicious person like that girl can live happily ever after, hand to hand with her prince charming? And, how can she live with that prince charming which was never hers, which she stole away from her? Why? Why? Why?
That's right, why must you live like that?
The feminine voice said, and then the shattered pieces of the mirrors assembled in front of her, and on it was reflected was her reflection- which was very unlike her. Her reflection stood with her head high, her peachy lips curving to form a smirk, wearing a simple white nightgown. There was only one difference between them- the reflection had her hair cut short- almost till her shoulders, and her eyes were different; they were blue but glowing with fire. And by fire, she meant it.
"Hi, little sister, I've been so excited to see you." The reflection smiled. Esperanza was flabbergasted. The memories did not say anything about her having a little sister. But she was compelled to believe because they looked so similar, there couldn't be any other possibility.
"You've not seen me once in your memories, because we've been separated from birth." The reflection continued with a sorrowful look on her face. "His grace..." She gritted her teeth and a scowl formed on her face. "His grace kept only one of us alive, the other was sent to death. The unfortunate twin was me, but I managed to survive because of some kind people." She continued. "But those seemingly kind people turned out to be huge scoundrels. They already knew about my lineage and wanted to sell me. I survived and fought against the hungry wolves in the forest who wished to feast upon me. Life was tough, but I managed to reach the prime of my life, but the moment I reached I died." The reflection banged upon the mirror with her fist, threatening the mirror to break. But the cracks joined themselves again.
"Injustice! I've suffered injustice! If it wasn't for his grace throwing me out...!" Her expression was resentful. She looked up at Esperanza who was startled and backed a step off. "I..." The reflection took her back her fist. "I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry, but I can't bear to watch my little sister be destroyed as well. Though we've never met each other, we share the same bloodline, we're born from the same mother who abandoned us." She looked up at Esperanza and smiled. "I've stayed as a spirit for three years, refusing to go to hell but now that I've met you, it was worthwhile."
The girl's words melted Esperanza, stirring her heart, making her thoroughly believe her. She reached out to touch her face, but the mirror was the obstacle between them.
"Could.... could you please tell me your name?" Esperanza asked. The girl smiled wearily.
"People call me Estrella." Estrella replied. "Now, dear little sister, do you want revenge? I can help you with that, and watch them fall to ruins." She said, and her voice was too alluring to be refused. They indeed seemed satisfying. Esperanza wanted to return all the injustice she is supposed to suffer in the future- and, the injustice of her so-called elder twin.
"I can help you." She continued. "You're just a patient who woke up from a coma, you're scared of being manipulated. But trust me, I'll guide you and make you the noblest woman in society. I'll let those duchy fall to ruins, in front of you, crumbling into bits by bits! The man who betrayed you for another girl will come back begging at your feet! The man who abandoned us will suffer even on his deathbed! The old empire will be enveloped in flames in honor of the new era! It'll be the most glorious landscape ever!" She said as her eyes were glinting with ambition; picturing everything in front of her as it had already happened.
"I don't want to implicate the empire." Esperanza snapped. "I just want to personally torture the three culprits of my upcoming suffering; Duke Lev, Duke Lykos, and...." She gritted her teeth as the picture of the girl resurfaced in her mind, the image of the girl sneering and mocking her. "And Ligera, the real daughter."
"Okay, as you wish." Estrella smiled. "My spirit power is decreasing being in my physical form. Go and have a good sleep, I'll see you when I recover." With those as her last words, The world of vacuum fell over and Esperanza found herself in her bed. She stared into nothingness for a while, then covered herself with her bedsheet.
"Good night." She whispered.
Meanwhile.
"Hah!" Estrella sneered. "I already knew she had that power resistance and spirit of vengeance. Look at her now, so wonderful! I should've done that years ago, but I guess now it's still worthwhile her staying." She looked at her fading body. "If only my primordial spirit wasn't this weak, I would've conquered her ages ago. But now I think she might turn out better than I expect." She smirked.
"Serenitas empire, wait for it. You owe me more than your stability." She folded her arms and looked at the girl who had just fallen asleep.
