The Mistress of Shadows

Chapter -01

The sky was covered with dark clouds, obscuring the view of onlookers. The color of blue in different shades which had been always a source of comfort to her cannot be seen today. Not that it mattered to her.

Of course, it was raining. Why wouldn't it be when fate seemed to be always against her side and laughing at her, mocking her situation every chance it got?

She gritted her teeth and tried to not give up on this situation but what could a six-year-old girl do in this situation?

The thunder was deafening this time and the lightning didn't help her already scared heart.

How would she reach her house with the way the rain poured like there was no tomorrow?

Her worn-out clothes didn't help her in keeping warm not that the rain was forgiving.

The rain came down, like a straight arrow as a punishment on her disabled leg which was already aching with how uneven and muddy the ground was.

She hated it….

Six-year-old Aloisa Zelene hated the rain. It was unforgiving on her legs as if mocking her disability.

Her right leg's muscles were weak from her premature birth and due to that she could not walk like a normal person which always made her limp, or walk with the help of a walking stick.

The rain seemed to fill Aloisa's world with helplessness and smothering heaviness that made it seem like her miserable life would never change.

Her birth itself was a disadvantage to her compared to other normal people, which put her at odds whenever she tried to interact with other kids of her age.

It was not as if the place she was born helped her either….

Her father, Felix Zelene.

The Duke of the South East.

Her country, Nexyran was divided into five dukedoms including South, North East, South East, North West, and South West, with the Central being occupied by the imperial family and a barren north side where monsters dwelled.

And the South East dukedom named Everland was ruled by the Zelene family for over a century.

One might wonder why was her life this miserable when her father was the Duke of Everland, the land that would forever prosper.

She was hated even before she was even born.

To understand her misery and suffering, one must know about the war that began eleven years ago and ended six years ago…

The war that lasted for five years.

The war between Nexyran and Azedel.

Nexyran which was expanding its territory and also was constantly suffering from the unjust attack on their trade ships by Azedel country for many years had decided to strike back and the war began.

It lasted for five years, in which many were killed, tortured, maimed, and suffered a fate worse than death. Thinking about it made Aloisa harden her resolve to calm down and reach the safety of her home.

Many people lost their lives as a result of the war, and so did the rise of many heroes and legends.

One was her father, Duke Felix Zelene, the Hero of the Navy, the one who conquered the sea, the man who made the ocean obey him, the man with a monster ship. These were just some of the names people had praised him commonly.

And having him as a father must have been like being born with a golden spoon…

But, it wasn't like that for her.

His father, who was already married and had two children when he was participating in the war had brought home a mistress.

Her mother, Eliza…

Eliza was not only a mistress but belonged to Azedel, the enemy of Nexyran.

Her father, Felix Zelene, the man who had never looked at any other woman other than his wife had brought home a mistress after he returned home from the war or that was what the maids had been gossiping about during laundry.

He had actually brought a pregnant mistress and insisted on supporting her even if his wife was against it.

It was nothing new. Many people brought people from Azedel as servants, maids, mistresses, and whatnot. Usually, women suffered the most as the atrocities conducted against them were ever-present.

Even as a six-year-old, Aloisa understood the truth of being born as a female as she had seen noblemen behaving inappropriately with the maids and servants in the duchy.

So, her father bringing a mistress was swept under the rug by the loud praises of his victory.

Thus, she was born prematurely due to the stress and strain from traveling and enduring the war which had taken a toll on her pregnant mother's body.

Aloisa's earlier days which she cannot much remember were filled with nothing but the memories of her mother and a maid Timmy tending to her in an abandoned house near the mansion's garden.

She had only seen her father from afar. The only time she had seen him up close was when he came for the naming ceremony. Usually, a naming ceremony will be conducted within a year after the child is born. But it was held when she was three years old.

Father didn't acknowledge her presence at all. But he had given her his name.

That was the strangest thing.

No noble ever gave their illegitimate children their family name. It was done very rarely if the child was a genius or had to offer much.

Mother, Eliza was all she had in this cruel world where not only she was born as a female but with a disabled leg. The world wasn't just fair, it was unbelievably cruel beyond words.

But Eliza wasn't in good health. She didn't ever recover from the complicated pregnancy. She often fainted and had problems with breathing. Yet, her mother taught Aloisa many things, from letters, and numbers to etiquette.

Sometimes, it felt like she was pushing everything in Aloisa's mind before the time ran out.

What many children would have struggled to learn at this tender age of four, Aloisa thrived in knowledge and absorbed everything she was taught.

But fate was never kind as her mother had fallen so severely ill on Aloisa's sixth birthday that her mother could not get up from the bed anymore. Maid Timmy soon began to neglect work and visited the house once in three days.

Even though Mother was never affectionate toward her, and always looked at her with cold eyes full of contempt and wariness, she was all Aloisa had.

Eliza was the only person Aloisa had.

She knew mistresses were not treated like a wife, but she expected her father, Felix to care for Eliza whom he had broken his marriage vows for, and brought home a female from the enemy country.

But, he never even visited her.

From what he heard from the snide remarks of Timmy, he only visited till the birth of Aloisa and that too occasionally. After that, he ceased to visit this place.

Why?

Why did he even bring mother here if he didn't care for her?

If he didn't care for her, then why didn't he abandon them?

These were the questions that circulated in her mind every day. But she never got any answers.

The fees for the medicines and her mother's care were taken by her father so she didn't have much to worry about that other than the house chores which she struggled to do with the way her leg was.

Yet, she learned to do laundry, and cooking from spying on the maids and servants. She tended their home as best as she could and attended to her mother's needs.

She has been doing everything on her own for the past six months, for she has no one to rely on or complain about. It was not as if she could demand to meet her father.

She had filed a petition that requested to meet him six months ago which she never got any replies of.

Today was the day, her father had finally agreed to meet with her.

And her stupid heart which was filled with false hope and yearning for a parent's love didn't fail to excite her about the meeting.

She had tried to be as presentable as possible with her worn-out clothes. She had cut out on her spending as most of the budget allocated for them went to her mother's medicines and groceries.

Yet, she tried her best to look neat. She should not be scared, for her mother's life depended on her.

The doctor had said that her mother's health was deteriorating and her unwillingness with life wasn't helping much.

Aloisa had to do something. Even if her father didn't like Aloisa, he must at least care for her mother.

Aloisa wanted her mother to live. She refused to give in to the doubts clouding her sharp mind and went to meet with her father.

Aloisa let the tears out as she continued to limp her way out of the garden towards her house as she still remembered the encounter with her father.

"Fathe…."

"Never ever dare to call me that, you wretched thing."

Aloisa was shocked to see the duke refusing her to even greet him.

She gulped down her fear and disappointment that was threatening to swallow her heart in whole and looked up at him.

This was the first time she had seen him up close. The aides of his father and the butler's glare weren't any less in making her feel small.

No.

She refused to give up…

So Aloisa had greeted him as my lord, and earned silence back, as if her father was thinking of killing her right here for wasting his time.

Aloisa muttered up whatever courage she had and requested him to help her mother's health.

When he was glaring at her, Aloisa's curious eyes couldn't help but glance over his features, to compare them with himself.

Her hair, the garnet-colored ones was a stronger shade on the dark side compared to her father's auburn hair which was what most Zelene's were born with. His brown eyes exuded authority while she tried to look down to hide the creepiness of her gray eyes.

He looked at her disgusted and yelled at her to get out and to never dare to come to see him if she valued her life. The Knights standing guard pulled her out at the way his father became agitated with the mere presence of her.

Her tiny hands trembled, and she bit her lip so as to not cry out.

Because crying seemed to anger the adults even more.

The hopes she had destroyed her heart thoroughly. The Knights had pulled her away from the Duke's working quarters and sneered at her, ordering her to leave this place immediately.

Aloisa's tears which were barely kept at bay threatened to consume her eyes when the servants used slur words against her, mostly about her limping right leg and the wooden stick she was using to walk.

There she met her fath--- no, no…

Not father, she had to remember that. There she met the Duke's children, his sons and daughter gathered with their friends and mocked her. It was nothing unusual as it happens very often. But looking at the duke's children and their perfectly auburn hair resembling the Duke and the way they dressed made her heart break into a million pieces at the difference and how father loved them and not her.

They broke her wooden stick and pushed her in the mud and she limped her way while the gardeners laughed at her pitiful state and that's when the rain began.

Nothing in life went her way. The way from her home to the mansion itself was harder on her legs even with the stick as there were many steps in the mansion, she had to climb to reach the Duke's office. It was as if everyone was deliberately making her walk into the mansion and enjoyed tormenting her.

But the trip to her home from the mansion was even harder without the help of the stick and the rain wasn't helping her much.

Her legs ached so much that she wanted to give up.

She had already tripped in the muddy ground many times and the envy of people with proper legs grew even more in her heart.

Her fingers trembled in the cold and she almost cried in relief when she spotted the house that stood between the garden and the servant's quarters.

The only place that offered solitude and peace sometimes.

Home. Well, it was for her.

Aloisa gritted her teeth and determination and limped her way to home which was just a few feet away.

Aloisa tried to push out the mocking laughter and cruel words she endured today.

It was nothing special.

It happened all the time, so why was she this affected today?

It was because of her heart…

The treacherous thing dared to hope for a better future ignoring the harsh reality of her family situations and her disability.

She moved into the house which consisted of a living room, kitchen, and four other rooms. Hers was on the ground floor as she could not climb up and her mother's was adjacent to her room. Eliza's room was shifted to the ground floor, for Aloisa could not climb stairs to tend to her mother.

She tried to take a peek a look at her mother's condition and was surprised to look at her mother's black eyes as she was wide awake and reading a book.

Aloisa was soaked and had cuts and scratches. Aloisa's clothes were muddy and she was not fine as anyone could tell that from a single glance.

Yet, her mother turned away as if Aloisa didn't exist.

Aloisa knew her presence wasn't welcome and she was not in the mood to barge into her mother's room and entertain her even though Eliza remained aloof all the time.

Aloisa turned away from her mother and moved towards the bathroom to discard her wet clothes. She toweled her hair, knowing that no matter how hard things might be, she could not afford to get sick for there was no one to care for her if she fell ill.

Even though all she wanted was to lay down the moment she got home, Aloisa could never be reckless enough to ignore her health.

She knew how bad the days were when she got sick.

She moved towards her room and finally laid down, ignoring her grumbling stomach and the chores in the kitchen. She has three more hours before she has to prepare lunch for her mother and herself.

Until then, she wanted to close her eyes and surrender to the blissful sleepiness that was claiming her fatigued body.

Aloisa lay there, unaware of the shadows creeping closer to her body.