Young Girl’s First Confession
“Your Highness, I wish to become a member of the Shadow Squad.”
Troy gently held Lucia’s hand. He stroked the first few wounds she had on her. When the two of them met for the first time, they tightly held each other’s hands. A child’s hand shouldn’t be such a heavy and cold metal weapon. Troy raised his head up. He felt sorry for her. The pain on her hand showed in her eyes. No, it showed even more pain than the wound on her hand.
Troy softly asked, “Why? If it’s the Shadow Squad… isn’t it very tough?”
“It’s all right, Your Highness. It’s because I want to protect you. Didn’t we make a promise on the tree? I want to protect you so that nothing like that will happen again.”
Lucia lightly shuffled over to Troy. The two of them sat on the tree branch on a large tree in the flower garden. The tree was the same as the tree they snuggled up on in the forest. The shade provided by the lush tree was particularly soothing. It was also Lucia’s favourite place. Nobody would disturb them here. They wouldn’t need to do anything, but spend time together in bliss.
Lucia lightly leaned on Troy’s shoulder. She tightened her grip on his hand. In a soft voice, she said, “Because I’m scared… I’m very scared, Your Highness… We have already been together for a very, very long time. I want to see you when I wake up each morning. I can’t imagine life without you by my side. I’m very scared. I don’t know what to do if you’re not here… So, I don’t want to let that happen again. I want to always be by your side. I want to always protect you. That way, I’ll always be able to be with you, too, right?”
“Mm… Lucia, I’ll be all right. I don’t have many friends. I grew up in the palace. It was always Mom, who was by my side protecting me and loving me, but you’re different. You’re my only friend and the only way for me to see the outside world from here. Lucia, I need you. I wouldn’t be as happy without you, and I won’t gain as much. My best find is still you.”
Lucia’s face turned completely red, but she stayed next to Troy. She never took her shoulder off his. She clung to his arm to feel his warmth and gentleness. She, too, didn’t know why she was happy when she was with him, but it was the first time she found herself so infatuated.
“Why am I becoming more and more reluctant to leave Troy? I don’t know. I just know that I feel very happy and comfortable at his side. His gaze, his warmth and his gentleness seem to have become my goal in life. Troy is comparable to the first time I saw that flower. I was attracted by it, so I plucked it and brought it to my side. Similarly, I don’t want to ever let him leave,” thought Lucia.
Lucia later found out that the flower was called Holy Spirit Flower. Legends say that it was a place where elves resided. Those places that operated under the system of spirits could give kind children the best present. Lucia wasn’t an adult yet, but she was no longer at the age where she believed fairy tales for children. She believed this one, though, as it delivered to her the best present she could ask for. At the time, the pair of hands covered in mud that gently held hers was the best present she ever received. Their romance started at that moment. It wasn’t as exciting as a hero saving a beauty story nor was there any sweet talk. It was purely two childhood friends who shared everything with each other and ran around in the flower garden hand in hand. Their cheerful laughter contained overwhelming pure beauty.
At the time, the two didn’t know what love was, nor did they know what marriage or politics were, and they sure didn’t know what bloodlines meant. They just wanted to always be together, for they liked each other and were friends.
After a moment of silence, Troy bit down on his lip. He didn’t dare to look straight at Lucia; instead, he looked at the sunset ahead while Lucia was by his side. In a soft voice, he said, “Lucia, I want to tell you something. I hope you’ll seriously listen to me.”
Surprised, Lucia looked up to see Troy’s cheeks, which appeared redder than the setting sun. Puzzled, she asked, “Go ahead, Your Highness. Is something the matter?”
“Mm… Lucia… Mm… I might have fallen in love with you.”
Troy looked away. Shy, his lips trembled. Lucia sluggishly looked at his face. His declaration rattled her. She didn’t know what to say. Her heart began to race, sending her nervous and scared blood throughout her entire body. As a consequence, her body froze stiff, and she didn’t know what to do.
“Aaaahhh… I… I…”
Lucia looked blankly at Troy. Her face gradually melted in with the sunset. She opened her mouth over and over, but she couldn’t find the words to speak. It was as if the cat caught her tongue. She didn’t know what this “fallen in love with you” meant, but she grew incredibly nervous and shy enough to not dare look him in the face.
Troy licked his lips then tightly held her hand. He struggled to say, “I asked, Mom. She said that if two people can go through hardship together and stay together in bliss, then that is love. Therefore, I feel that I’ve probably fallen in love with you… Lucia… I don’t know what to do after falling in love, either; but nonetheless, I think we’re to get married after. Then, we’re supposed to be together, have children and then we’ll be able to be together forever, I think…”
Lucia silently listened. She was surprised she wasn’t nervous or shy. She listened to the future he illustrated through his words. As she listened, she began to imagine the future when she was a wife and a mother. The future was a little far for her; as a matter of fact, she didn’t know how it was meant to look. Regardless, Lucia could feel bliss and satisfaction fill her entire body. Though she didn’t understand what the future was, she knew that it was her most blissful future.
Dumbfounded, Lucia responded, “Then… what should I do… Your Highness…? What should I do…? If you’re talking about love, then I might have fallen in love with you, too… So… so… what should I do…? What, exactly, should I do…?”
“I… I don’t know, either… But… I read in books that we should get engaged… Mm… Get engaged first, I guess… I need to tell Mom… I need to tell Mom…”
“Mm… Mm…”
Lucia turned her head. Her face was so hot that it melted her mind, putting her at a loss for what to say and do. She had never been involved in engagements and whatnot. She wondered what it was for, and what she’d get. She didn’t even have the chance to ask her parents yet. She, herself, didn’t know what marriage meant; however, since they could be together forever, she assumed it would be fine…
“Let’s go, Lucia. Let’s go have dinner. Let’s ask Mom this evening. If Mom agrees, I want to get engaged. It’ll be nice if we can go ahead. Let’s go, Lucia.”
“Ah… Mm… Okay…”
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Ten minutes later…
*Clang!*
Vyvyan wore a dumbstruck expression. She dropped the soup spoon straight into the soup, splattering the milk-coloured soup in front of her. She wore an incomparably awkward expression. Her entire world’s foundation was shaken before her smile even had the chance to disappear. The world in her heart was crumbled.
“You can’t! You can’t! You can’t! You can’t!!” Vyvyan shouted without even spending a moment to think. She outright refused Troy.
Disappointed and upset, Troy asked, “Why, Mom? I love Lucia. Since I love Lucia, shouldn’t we get engaged…?”
Troy was on the verge of tears, rendering Vyvyan a little flustered: “No… That’s not what I meant… Umm… It’s not… Mommy… Mommy… Mommy… It’s not that Mommy is saying you can’t… It’s just… Mm… You two are still a bit too young, right…? You’re still too young, Son. It’s fine for you two to get married… But you’re still too young, aren’t you…? You’re too young…”
“Is that so…?”
Troy looked at Lucia with a hopeless look. Lucia looked back at him feeling disappointed. The two of them had their hands clasped together underneath the table. Vyvyan huffed and puffed. The two of them were looking at each other, so they didn’t notice her eyes turning blood red. Vyvyan’s rationality couldn’t suppress her desire to kill Lucia. She did her best to not kill in her son’s presence.
It seemed that the Shadow Squad would have another corpse for sure.
“So, can we get married once we’re older, Mom?”
“Of course. Once Lucia comes out of the Shadow Squad, you can get engaged. You’ll be old enough by then, so you’ll be okay to get engaged.”
Vyvyan smiled. Her lips and hands trembled. If she could kill with her gaze, Lucia would have died many times over already. Unfortunately, Vyvyan couldn’t just kill her, so she had to rely on the Shadow Squad.
“I cannot… let… that woman come out alive!” Vyvyan told herself.
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