The bodyguard punched the empire's flower through the glistening walls of the palace, leaving a huge dent in it. Such incidents weren't even surprising anymore, for the hated flower had already accepted her fate as the disgraced one. "You're the reason my family is gone!" the madman charged and swung at the duchess again.
No servants even spared a glance; it was just how things operated there. A life viewed so lowly, the maids seemed to have a higher status than the duchess herself. Furiously, the man beat her until her dress tore and her face swelled, resembling a face stung by hives of bees. Her ribs cracked during the process, leaving the duchess with an even weaker body than before. Before leaving through the gates, the guard kicked the duchess one last time and fled the scene. She tried to ask for help, but her voice always stopped in her throat.
Not getting any help, she lay on the cold hardwood floors of the Emerald Palace, gathering every bit of strength left to get herself back up on her feet. Every movement brings immense pain to her beaten-up body, like it's about to fall apart any second. The duchess's life hasn't always been like that, though. Previously, the people knew her as the sword of the empire, before they knew her as the flower of the empire.
For she led many battles as the army's commander and brought victory upon the land of Nyvex. The most recent and biggest war she had to lead was against the vampires from Zolrex. For that battle lasted 3 whole years for Nyvex to claim its newest victory. At last, she stabbed through the heart of Commander Zolrex, forcing the vampires to retreat back. Nyvex would have been devastated if they lost the war, and the people would have feared for their lives every day. Everyone cheered for Kaithera and her army, celebrating 2 entire months for the victory. In return, however, she sustained a large injury in her right thigh, leaving her limp for a long time.
The king had given her the title of a duchess with her own palace, territory, and servants as a way to express his gratitude. Overjoyed, Kaithera shared her happy moments with her comrades whom she fought with, even letting the servants enjoy some good food. Peace was never meant to last a long time; however, rumors started to spread like wildfire among the nobles and the commoners of Nyvex. The once clean reputation of Kaithera, swamped with mud, started by small rumors in Nyvex.
"Did you know? The new duchess RECRUITED the people who burnt the defense towers of Nyvex!"
"What?? Vice Commander Adonis should've been the one to claim the Duke title!"
"Kaithera is planning to get the whole empire be eaten by VAMPIRES!"
"DO NOT BELIEVE THE DUCHESS; SHE'S A WITCH!"
All kinds of rumors surrounded Kaithera's name; from significant to trivial matters, Kaithera would always have done something wrong. The most known rumor, though, is Kaithera leaving the nation defenseless and fleeing the country. It doesn't matter what the truth is anymore, just Kaithera's name being dragged down in the mud by ignorant people.
The rumors reached the duchess' servants, making them absolutely disgusted with their mistress for not taking care of herself. Duchess Kaithera tried to tell them everything they heard was fake, yet nobody believed her; one by one the servants quit their jobs, and only the most desperate ones stayed. Not even they respected her as a human or their mistress after all of that; they only managed the palace and stayed away from Kaithera in the palace rooms.
The mass quitting created many more rumors, saying Kaithera fired all of her servants, painting her as yet another villain in their stories. Mistreated and betrayed by the people she fought so hard to protect, the duchess locked herself in her bedroom, only receiving occasional stale bread and congee. Even the ignorant servants knew that letting a noble member die by hunger would mean instant punishment for negligence for their mistress. Keeping her alive was already enough for the king himself.
Furious guards blinded by their own obliviousness often took out their own anger at Kaithera herself, screaming nonsense and slandering the duchess who used to lead the battlegrounds.The last guard who left and quit was the 15th guard in the timespan of 2 years.
The headmaid had to reluctantly recruit someone else who would be willing to guard a painted traitor of the country holding the title of a duchess. Although the king knew what conditions Kaithera was living in, he kept quiet and pretended not to see anything.
On a Saturday evening, all the servants had left to go home, even though the designated time for them to leave is at 9pm. Nobody cared what they did anymore; they acted like they owned the palace and did whatever they'd like. On that particular day, Kaithera was ready to set up the fire in her room just so she wouldn't freeze to death. Her bedroom windows were broken from the last protests of the people, and till that day nobody cared to fix them. Just as she closed the curtains, there was a loud thud just outside her main palace doors.
The impact was big enough to shake the Palace a little bit. With her remaining strength, she ran while limping from the last beating she encountered.
"Could it be that someone got hurt?" As an ex-commander, she felt great sympathy towards people who are suffering physically and mentally. Those who undergo such pain need to be helped and cared for; that was Kaithera's unique mind. She never blamed others for her current situation; that was just Kaithera.
As she slammed open the cold, heavy doors of the palace, she saw a blonde man lying on the ground, barely conscious. In that moment, her knight instincts took over her, and although she had been malnourished for over 2 years, her flame had never dimmed even by a little bit. Even as a duchess in title, she was still a knight at heart, no matter the circumstances. With some strength left, she carried the man inside the palace and placed him in the guest room.
Acknowledging her current abysmal reputation, she didn't want to cause trouble for the man and just provided him some water to drink when he woke up and returned to her bedroom. The head maid came back after her outing and saw a strange man inside the guest bedroom that was usually empty.
She went ahead to the duchess and asked who that man was."Duchess, may I ask who is the man inside the guest bedroom?"
"He's probably some mercenary that got lost somewhere; just take care of him and let him leave as soon as possible." Even though the duchess craved real human interaction, she could not let herself taint other people's lives by existing near them. It was not an option for both the people and the duchess herself.
In the guest bedroom, the strange man had awoken; he claimed to be a lost foreigner that fell after being stuck on the trees near the palace. Seeing his good condition, the headmaid politely asked him to leave the palace. Though, the man clearly had other plans.
"If you're done resting, you may leave the palace as soon as possible," the headmaid said. "Our mistress doesn't accept guests kindly, so unless you're planning to be executed as a trespasser, it's better if you leave right now."
"Kicking me out already? I don't even know what this place is... Is this the Emerald Palace?" The man asked the headmaid.
"Yeah and you're tresspassing here, so get out." The head maid paused, she could hire him so she won't have to venture out and find another man to work for the duchess. "On a second thought, are you interested in a job offer?"
"A job? Hmmmm, I do need some extra cash for my pockets nowadays." The head maid wasted no time and slammed a contract on the man. "Fill this in, you'll start tomorrow, and you'll be given your salary every 2 weeks."
The man was shocked by the pure forthrightness of the headmaid, but still accepted the sudden job offer anyway. He was anything but a cautious blonde-haired man.
From that point on, the tresspasser or rather Caellum, became Kaithera's 16th bodyguard.