The Beloved One!

Extra 07: Emma's Blackening

Soaked blonde strands clung to the young child's face as she gazed into the pond of her family's estate that she had just climbed out of.

The girl's illegitimate half-siblings of concubines had pushed her in, laughing and mocking her about what was so good about being a legitimate child if she was being treated worse than a servant and that her mother was a fragile noble woman who couldn't give their father a legitimate heir, having miscarried two sons twice.

She mentally argued, responding to what had been said to her:

'I had no control over my mother being a noble, properly wedding and having a child in wedlock.'

'I had no control over being born a legitimate child.'

'It wasn't my mother's fault that she had miscarried!!! I already know.... father already knows and mother already knows that it was one of your concubine mothers who had poisoned my mother for the second time!!!!!'

Her hands tightly clenched as her lips hardly pressed against each other, hot tears forming in her brown eyes. The young girl shook her head. No she couldn't cry. She couldn't be weak like her mother. She sniffled forcing them down.

"Lady Emma." A voice respectfully called out to her. It was her nanny.

"How's mother?" This was the first thing the child had asked. "What did the doctor say?"

The nanny's gaze dropped to the ground. She informed. "....Honorable Concubine Lena had called him over, saying she had a stomach-ache."

Honorable Concubine Lena, one of the five concubines of her father who desired for her illegitimate son to become the heir since he was the oldest male out of her father's children.

It was all clear to the Emma what the concubine was doing. How could a mere stomachache be compared to that of a fragile woman with a serious illness who had just had a miscarriage that almost taken her life?!!! And her father was allowing it!!! Indulging those women of lowly backgrounds!!! Pampering the children of them!!!

The child headed for the dilapidated side house of the Estate that her mother, her nanny and her had been living in.

The nanny followed silently behind her.

With the rotting door creaking open, Emma entered her mother's room, the water from her clothes and hair dripping on the wooden floorboards.

Once the mother saw the state of her child, tears shedded from her eyes. In her a feeble voice, she sobbed. "E-EEmmie .... m-m-mommy's sorry. I am sorry."

The child's teeth gritted. She deeply loved yet loathed her mother at the same time. She could understand that her mother naturally possessed a trustful, benevolent, timid and meek personality.

But how could she allow for her own child to be treated such a way?! How could she not protect her own child?!! How could she lose two sons to them?!!

They were her possible little siblings .... she had wanted to meet them.

Why after all of this, why was her personality still the same way?!! With only tears and apologies!! What could those do?!! Why didn't she fight?!!

But the eight year old Emma knew the answers all to well for her questions.

'....Mother, I won't become like you. Your grandchildren won't become like you.' Emma thought. She then went onto say. "Mother, it's even difficult for you to talk." She kneeled down besides her mother's beside. "Save your energy. It's okay. I am okay. No need to apologize. Just think about getting better."

"I-I-I am truly .... sorry E-Emmie. If only you weren't born to a weak mother like me. I want you to be happy. But it seems like even I can't grant you that."

••••

After visiting her mother, she was back at the pond again.

Emma just wanted to cry and shout to the heavens why her, why her mother.

Why was the great god Brahma not coming down to help them?!! Where was he?! How could he just watch and allow for people to do such acts?!! Were those concubines of her father taking two innocent lives before they were even born was not enough?!!! Were those illegitimate siblings of hers actually laughing and mocking her about the two siblings she could have had was not enough?!!! Was the horrendous treatment of her mother that had caused her to develop a deathly illness not enough?!!!

Those people still didn't leave her and her mother alone, after practically gaining all of the power and ruling the house, kicking her and her mother to an old side house of the Estate that had used to be where slaves had lived before Queen Milcah Cromwell had rose to the throne and had outlawed the selling, purchasing, and keeping of slaves within Emphraim Kingdom.

Why were those concubines so greedy for more?!!

"Young Lady Emma, I have brought old ceramic plates and cups that the servants of the in main Estate were going to throw out. Maybe breaking some would help you ease your anger." The nanny said, placing the brown cardboard of ceramics down on the side of her young lady.

"Thank you." She gave words of appreciation. "You may want to step back a bit." Emma warned. Hazardously releasing her wind magic even though she knew it may damage her small body because she had yet to reach the age of ten, she angrily broke those ceramics thinking of her those concubines, those illegitimate half-siblings, her father.

A single tear trickled down her cheek. Why couldn't everything just end?

••••

A few days later, even after her mother had put on a strong act that she was fine, she had died.

Emma's expression was blank as stood in front of the newly filled in grave of her mother.

Lena, her father's concubine walked up from behind her, siding at her side. "Oh my. I never knew that women of noble blood could be so weak just because of a couple days of not seeing the doctor."

"...."

"It's a pity the Countess died like that."

"...."

She sighed, "I truly wished to see her suffer more."

Then something snapped within Emma.

••••

Her mother's last wish had been for her to be happy. She will be happy. No matter what she had to do, even if that meant her hands becoming dirtied. She didn't care about who would suffer. She will be happy. Happy!!! No one could stop her. Since was no god in this cursed world.