Even after 15 years had passed, Julien could never forget the hands that had embraced him that day.
Even till this moment, he could still hear her voice, her warm breath brushing against his ears every now and then.
"Little Brother, don't be afraid. Stand behind me, Sister will protect you."
The girl who had taken all the beatings in his stead.
"Close your eyes and don't move."
The girl who had stood in front of him no matter how dire the situation was.
Julien shuddered, the entirety of his blood turning ice and pricking. He was paining all over until finally, a tear fell down his cheeks, leaving behind a trail of heat that only further fanned the burning hatred in his heart.
Julien could never wipe off the memory of her blood seeping through his fingers like sand. He could never forget the broken smile that had painted her bloodied face. But then,
"Don't cry."
He could feel her fingers brushing past his cheeks, as if intending to catch every drop of his pain and dissolve them into mist, as if they had never existed.
"I will be back so live on. Take care of yourself well… and wait for me."
Julien choked, opening his eyes once more to a world of endless darkness. It was only then did he realize. Her touch was forever devoid of any warmth.
She was never there. It's all but a part of his delusional mind. She would never be back.
His lips quivered, his nose soured and without any thought, his hand moved into the darkness to grab another drink, chugging it down his throat.
Julien could never forget. What more to forgive.
He would destroy them for sure. For even if it's not for himself, he should at least bring justice to the girl who had once held his hand and never let go, even at the cost of her life.
***
Sunday morning. The Sterling's House of Thorns.
As the sun reached its peak, the door to the master bedroom was nearly broken down by the flurried knocks of a flustered attendant.
"Master, wake up! I've got bad news! Please pardon me–"
The master in the bedroom hadn't even croaked out a reply when the brazen attendant swung the door apart, only for his peasant face to scrunch in disgust.
"Ugh! What the Hell–"
The sudden gushing air reeked of both alcohol and depression, nearly scaring his soul out of his body.
With knitted eyebrows, the attendant searched in the dark, taking in the silent chaos before finally locking his gaze onto the sorry state of his master wasted on the ground.
Upon the intrusion of light, the master of the house, Julien Sterling, climbed up the bedpost and pressed his back against one of the sturdy mahogany legs.
He had just barely gathered himself into a somewhat acceptable sitting position, when the aftermath of his little sob party struck him in the head, drawing out a terrible groan from the depths of his dry throat.
"Sir, I've brought over your hangover cure, as always."
With a platter in his arms, the attendant walked in with pride. But then, Julien looked over, the prideful man in his sight morphing into a monstrous figure that made his blood boil wild.
Julien's eyes turned ferocious red. His bloodlust shot up and like a beast who had just got his tail stepped on, Julien's hand moved at the speed of lightning, aiming one of the empty glass bottles straight onto the attendant's head.
"OH mY hOly FATHER–"
The attendant screeched, nearly pissing his pants as his legs turned jelly. Fortunately, although he ended up falling with two knees on the ground, he at least missed the flying bottle by a hair breadth. There's no need for the hospital drama.
With tears and snots streaking down his face, the attendant quickly set the platter aside and kneeled with his forehead against the ground, begging (demanding) for an explanation *ahem* forgiveness.
"Master! This is your lovely attendant, me, Mario! How could you randomly hurl around such dangerous things!"
Julien squinted his eyes through the light and studied the attendant close, the fingers around another bottle slowly loosening.
"It isn't something random. Also, mask on." Julien finally spat out, his previous ferocity diminished by half as his stance visibly softened.
"Oh." Mario realized his mistake. He continued to carry out his message, but not before wearing his mask and exempting himself from the demon's predatory gaze.
"Sir, the Madam has been ambushed."
Mario finally dropped the bomb.
A slight pause ensued, as if Julien had a hard time processing what he had just heard. But obviously, that wasn't true as Mario heard him mumble.
"Again. Is it… the 15th Madam?" Julien mouthed with uncertainty, drawing gasps of disbelief from his attendant.
"Sir, it's the 17th Madam!" How could you forget about the late two madams' demise?
Mario nearly rambled it all. But he held his tongue, for it wasn't as if it was entirely his master's fault.
Julien didn't notice Mario's inner conflict. Instead, he focused on the word 17th and voiced out his thoughts, his expression motionless.
"17th? Doesn't sound like a lucky number at all. Have they retrieved her corpse?"
Mario gasped once more. The master was simply too straightforward! Though it wasn't surprising when they took in the past 16 cold corpses of the previous soon-to-be madams.
Another corpse to retrieve? Haha. That just adds to the collection!
Mario inwardly sighed in self-ridicule, wondering when these slanders and defamation would end. But now that he thought of it, this time, things were different. The 17th Madam…
"Sir, upon reaching the scene, we found no traces of the Madam. The Madam… might have made her escape and survived somewhere out there."
At his words, Julien's eyebrows raised with interest.
Meanwhile, at this moment, a wild girl emerged from the shrubs near the gates of the Sterling's mansion.
The wild girl was named Ruby and despite the sorry state of her appearance—the hems of her rag-like dress torn and her face a streak of dust grey—she stood confident before the huge estate, a bold thought crossing her mind as she laid her sparkling greedy eyes onto the castle-like estate.
'If I successfully marry into the family, will this castle be mine?'