The Archduke's Red Daisy

Prologue

Alicia Allen was born on the thirteenth day of the fourth month. Her mother was named Willow Allen-Romanov the lady of the house of Allen and the sister of the empress. Her father was Lazar Allen Marquis and lord of the house of Allen he dutifully serves the emperor and fights on the front lines. There were two others who lived in this household with more power than the servants. The mistress of the house Adria and Chiara, the child of the mistress who cannot join the nobility due to the fact she is not the daughter of the lady of the house. These two despise Lady Willow and Lady Alicia because they cannot be considered nobility nor can they have the power of one because they do not have noble blood in their veins like they do. Adria always curses the two of them when ever she gets jealous which is everyday. Chiara was three years older than Alicia yet the fact that she is deemed lesser than her by all the aristocrats annoys her and she wishes she could take her place even if it means choking her to death.

Their ire worsens when they see just how much the Marquis loves his wife and daughter compared to how indifferent he is to Adria and Chiara because of the fact that he loves Willow and yet he only married Adria because he took pity on her. She was the daughter of a rich and greedy merchant who lost all of his money after being caught trying to take advantage of Viscountess Elora who went out for a stroll. The man was taken away by the guards who saved the woman and he was tried for his crimes and executed. After his death Adria became poor and desperate so she kept doing everything she could to get pregnant with a noble's child so she could be a noble herself. With the Marquis pitying her she came into his home but not as she expected. She was made mistress a title that only has power over servants not those of noble birth. Even the viscounts and barons have power over her. She was upset over this and caused tantrums after giving birth and finding out her daughter couldn't even be the child of the house because Willow was the lady of the house. The tantrums were stopped by the Marquis who already told what would happen if she were to be a mistress and was given a warning to stop or else he would have no choice but to throw her out and the child would stay being raised by a viscountess of the House of Allen. She had no choice but to comply and raised her daughter who had her terrible personality.
When Chiara turned 8 and Alicia 5 Chiara would always try to blame Alicia for whatever she broke but the servants would always get in her way because Alicia was always following them around and they knew she would never do such a thing. The Marquis was not happy about this and would have Chiara stay in her room for the rest of the day and have servants bring her food with no dessert.

He tried he really did when trying to raise both of his daughters, even if one was a daughter of a mistress, to be good children but only Alicia was. Alicia was a good hearted child who loved to play with the servants and animals in the forest. She took after her mother personality wise and had a similar face to her. She also had her father's red hair and black highlights from her mother. Her eyes were a beautiful yellow similar to that of a hawk's eyes like her maternal aunt (the empress) who also adored the young child. She had a great relationship with everyone especially with the boy who's father is her papa's friend. She says everyone but their are two people who still don't like her. She doesn't know why though she tried to play with her sister and give her gifts and she tried to spend time with her second mother who is not her mama but neither of them seem to like Alice.

One day while 7 year old Alicia was playing with her Khirian Rabbit named Toy she heard lots of noise inside so she got curious and went in. When she got inside she heard some servants talking about her mama getting ill and no one knows why. Hearing this she ran to her mama's room to find her mama on her bed pale and her chest was not moving like it used to with a doctor who's face was sad looking and her papa was there too but she couldn't see his face because he turned around and was clenching his hands. When she walked closer she noticed he was shaking a lot so she ran up to him and hugged his leg. Both men were surprised when she hugged him and he immediately hugged her back saying he was sorry over and over again. He was distraught with the death of his beautiful and loving wife and he kept blaming himself that if maybe he came home sooner this would have never happened.

This day was a solemn day for everyone except Adria and Chiara who were happy with the news of the death of the Marchioness and when news spread to the palace the empress was sad with the death of her beloved younger sister and so was the emperor who enjoyed the company of the Marchioness and her daughter when both would come to visit the empress. For the empire it was a sorrowful day with the death of a well liked noble who spent her time actively trying to help the commoners by providing them food, water, shelter, and doctors when needed.

Unfortunately not even a week after losing the Marchioness to poison no one could find Alicia. Not that long after the search started a poor fisherman ran up to them. He told them how when he was getting ready to go out fishing he saw two figures by the cliffs near the water. He had a bad feeling so he ran up there with his son to make sure the two are okay. But when he saw neither of the two but he heard soe.one yelling for help. A little red haired girl was clinging on to a root of a tree trying to get up and not fall into the moving water below her. He tried to save the girl but it was too late and she already hit the water. He couldn't find the other figure and he went to tell his neighbors so they can help search for the little red haired girl. They searched and searched but all they could find was a necklace with pictures of the late Marchioness and the Marquis of the House of Allen with her sitting in between them. It was obvious she was their daughter so when he heard about them looking for her he went and told them everything. No one found the one who pushed the girl off and when it was suggested it could have been the mistress or her daughter they said that they were home still mourning for the Marchioness. The servants reluctantly agreed that they were there all day since that is the case. They never left the house all week except a few days ago which would mean they weren't the ones who did it. The Marquis was even more distraught and started to shut others out and became much colder compared to his happy personality from before. He kept the rabbit his little Alice loved so much and would hugged the little white puff ball when he was in his room.

No one has claimed to have found the little girl and the emperor reluctantly announced her dead. But that little girl was alive washed away on the banks of a foreign land. She miraculously survived thanks to some miracle. Not that long after she was found by a stranger with pitch black hair as dark as the night with glowing amethyst eyes. He took the little girl to his home never to be seen by her father again for another 11 years.

A.N.- Hey I'm back with a new story after a while of not writing. Sorry there was no excuse I was just not in the mood to post anything and since I had free time rn I decided to finally post something. I started thinking about this after having a daydream about it so enjoy! Oh and also none of the pictures here are mine and the future ones are also not mine until I tell you guys otherwise. Bye enjoy this story I might post again soon who knows.