章 4: Noelle Silva

Solid wandered through the family estate, enjoying the fresh air that flooded through the place, the view of the evening sky and the wonderful garden before him. It was wonderful. A rare moment of tranquillity in his otherwise chaotic life. At this point, he had spent most of his time reading about the world, the basics of magic, etiquette and manners, and the current political landscape. Unsurprisingly, the previous Solid wasn't interested in such things instead he spent most of his time reading novels and planning how to ruin Noelle's day.

Solid had been very busy the past week and with the addition of classes with his new tutor from the next day, he would get a lot more busy. Moments like this where he could just be free were very much appreciated. 'Why am I doing this?' Solid thought. He had promised himself that he would take it easy in his previous life but ever since he had arrived here he had done nothing but work.

Solid was the second son of a royal house. He was a prince. Someone like him wouldn't ever need to work in his life. Then why was he trying so hard? Was it because the world was dangerous? That at any moment he could die? While status and political power meant a lot in this world, the only true way to be safe was to have personal power.

No, That was not it. There was a different reason. One that Solid himself didn't quite understand at this point. His thoughts were interrupted by a frustrated cry. Behind the fountain that stood at the centre of the garden, a young girl who looked barely ten was punching the ground in frustration. Beside her was a broken black wand with a silver handle. Her silver hair and clothes were slightly wet.

…

Noelle was frustrated. She tried. She tried so hard. Everyday, every time she was constantly trying to improve her magic, her control. But, It just wouldn't listen. Her siblings could easily control their magic. Even Solid who was just three years older than her was very good at controlling his magic. It was just her… The black sheep of the Silva family.

She knew what everybody called her, 'the worthless child', 'the failure', 'the shame of the Silva', but what stung her the most was what her siblings called her, 'the monster who took the life of their mother'. She was her mother too. But they didn't think that. They didn't even think of her as family.

Noelle thought that if she could just master her magic. If she could be strong and if she became like her siblings, maybe they would finally accept her. Maybe she would finally have a family again… But even that was impossible.

Nobody listened to her, not even her magic.

Solid would always make fun of her when they were learning magic together. It had gotten so bad that she stopped attending her classes. But she still had hope, she still believed that if she tried really hard, she could control her magic. So, she trained in secret. Because she didn't want to get bullied anymore, because she didn't want to embarrass her family.

Tears formed in her eyes as she punched the ground harder and harder, taking every frustration out on the ground beneath her. She had tried everything. 'Why?' The tears from her eyes fell to the ground. Her hands hurt but still she kept punching. 'Why was I born?' Her hand started to bleed.

Her vision started to get blurry because of the tears. She tried to wipe the tears away with her hand only for her blood to get on her eyes. Noelle quickly rushed to the fountain. She used the water from the fountain to wash her eyes.

Noelle could finally see again after cleaning her eyes. She looked at her reflection. She looked so pathetic, so unlike her dignified and royal siblings. Her face wasn't the only thing that she saw in her reflection.

"Solid?" Noelle asked looking behind her to see her elder brother standing beside her. As the weight of her actions dawned on her, she quickly tried to think of something. To justify her actions. But she was too late.

Solid opened his mouth. Noelle mentally prepared herself for the verbal abuse. Solid was good with words, much better than she was. He didn't mock her as much as Nebra did but that wasn't because he was kind. No, he only used his words when he was sure that it would hurt her the most and he always knew exactly what to say.

"What are you doing?" She heard his voice. It felt different. His voice did not have the same trace of mockery that she had expected. Nor was it laced with hate. It was indifferent. It felt more similar to Nozel than it did to Solid. That cold indifference and absolute apathy was how Nozel spoke to her.

A sudden chill went down her spine as she tried to rationalize what this meant. 'Is he going to be like Nozel?' She thought as tears threatened to spill from her eyes again. Solid was the one she hated the most. Unlike Nebra who would often mock her and embarrass her in front of everyone, or Nozel who acted as if she didn't even exist, Solid would actively bully her, he was the only one who would go out of his way to hurt her. But he was also the only one who never ignored her existence.

If he also started to act as Nozel then… Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt something soft and weight rub against her face. It took her a moment to process what had just happened. She looked at Solid who had just wiped her face with a handkerchief.

It took a moment before she realised what he was trying to do. A combination of rage and sorrow washed over her as she once again desperately tried to stop the emotions within her. A year ago Solid had started to act kindly towards her making her think that they would get along. For two months he played nice with her making her finally feel what it felt like to have a family… But of course, it was all an act.

It was until her 11th birthday. Solid said that he would take care of all the invitations and promised her she would remember this birthday forever. Noelle trusted her brother after all he was mean to her but he never broke his promise. Finally, her life would be amazing. But when the day came…

The hall that Solid had reserved was completely decorated with all the things that one would expect in a royal party. There was a feast, with enough food for a hundred people. There were musical instruments on the stage and lights everywhere, Solid had even made sure to bring her favourite cake. But as time passed… Nobody came, Noelle patiently waited but… Nobody came.

When the door finally opened to reveal her brother. She asked him where everyone was and Solid said, "I sent a mail to everyone and all of them said they don't want to come here."

"How? My friends… They said they will come…"

"Friends? Do you think anyone wants to be a friend? You're foolish Noelle. They were simply acting to be closer to the Silva family, MY family. The same family that YOU destroyed. The same family that you continue to bring shame to."

"What are you saying brot-"

"Don't call me that. I am not your brother. This isn't your family. Can't you see? Do you think anybody thinks you're a part of us? You're a parasite to the family. The parasite that took MY mother. Everyone loved her and EVERYONE wishes that it was you instead of mother."

"Can't you see?" Solid pointed to the hall. "So many people yet… Nobody came."

Noelle's voice was stuck. She didn't know what to say. All this time everyone was only acting… nobody loves her… She tried to ask her brother if all of it was true. "Bro- Ah"

Solid simply pushed her. She fell on the table with the cake. Her dress.. the same dress that she so diligently prepared for the last three days was completely ruined.

"Don't you ever call me brother," Solid said as he spat. "You are a parasite to my family. You always were and you always will be, nothing more." Solid grabbed a drink from nearby, apple juice which was her favourite. He then poured it over her.

"If you can't you be useful. At least don't embarrass our family in front of others."

Noelle had never felt so alone. She had never felt so much hatred for herself. She wanted to disappear forever. She remembered crying in her room for three days. It was only after Nozel ordered her that she started to come out again.

And now… Solid wants to do that to her again?

Noelle looked at the man who had brought her so much pain in her life. 'What does he want to do now? Wasn't what he did already enough?' She took a deep breath and with all the energy she could muster said… "What… *sob* what more do you want from me?" Her legs were shaky. But she wanted to leave. To get away from here. So she did.

She ran. Her knees were shaky she knew that. She could barely see due to all the tears in her eyes. All she could do was all she ever did, run while wiping her tears.

…

Solid had regained his memories. All of it. That included the memories of what he had done to the child. Solid was lazy, he mostly skipped his classes and didn't care much about his education but that didn't mean he was dumb. Far from it. He remembered every one of Noelle's flaws, he remembered all of her insecurities and would actively use them against her.

'How can someone so young be so cruel?' Though he knew the answer. Solid always despised his younger sister but it wasn't to this extent. It was when the previous Solid overheard the maids talking about how Noelle's affinity was so much greater than his own that Solid started to go too far. So far that even Nozel himself had warned him a few times.

'All that for something so petty. How could someone so young be so… cruel?' Solid sighed inwardly. He looked at his younger sister, who had just reached the age of twelve. She looked so shocked that Solid would do something like that. But a flash of recognition flashed against her eyes and she looked at him with a combination of anger and hatred. Her voice was cracking probably because she was holding back a sob as she said with as much courage she could muster, "What *sob* what more do you want from me?" With all the energy she had, she ran towards the estate though Solid could still see her occasionally using her arms to wipe the tears off her face.

He knew why she had said that. What he did was cruel even by his standards. The previous Solid himself knew that. And even Nebra with whom he had borrowed money for a "prank" as he called it, told him that it was way too far and that Nozel shouldn't know of this. Thankfully Noelle didn't tell anyone. Though Solid had already known that, he understood her more than she. That was how far his hatred for Noelle went. That was how much he resented his sister.

That event had completely broken Noelle, It had isolated her from all of her friends and it made her distrustful of everyone.

Solid couldn't help but press his temple. "God damn it Solid." He sighed. "What have you done? How am I supposed to fix this?"

—

A/N:

This was such a difficult chapter to write. Interactions between children are always the hardest thing to write. Everything I wrote seemed too impossible for a 14-year-old to do. So instead I asked my cousin who was 14 years old to tell me what she would do if she were to hate a ten-year-old badly and asked her to be as cruel as possible. And she gave me the whole birthday idea. So.. if you think it far-fetched for a fourteen-year-old to be so cruel, This is literally taken from a 14-year-old. I modified it for the story of course.

Also, I find it easier to write in the third person, so the rest of the book will mostly have a third-person POV from now on.

And finally Have a nice day.