บท 14: Backstory
Soft, sweet melody came from the Duchess's chamber as Lillian slowly passed through the door. She saw her singing softly to her swollen belly; a kind, sad melody, as she sat on a chair and stared out the window.
She wiped tears that strayed from her eyes as her hand patted her belly.
"Is everything alright, Duchess?" Lillian asked, floating to her before she could stop herself.
"W-who are you? What are you?" Margaret jumped from her chair, knocking it onto the ground when she saw galaxy ferret Lillian flying above her.
Oh, right. She's never seen a ferret at all. Oops. Think, Lillian, think.
"Please don't be afraid. I am your Fairy Godmother." She blurted out.
The truth can't be any stranger than anything I can come up with.
"A-aren't Fairy Godmothers supposed to be . . . ethereal?" Margaret asked, still on the edge, hand against the wall to support her.
"That's the author's fault," Lillian replied bitterly. "The author's always hated me, that's why I look like this."
[Author: (@-@)]
"Author? What do you m-"
"Never mind that, duchess. We have a lot more important things to discuss than someone's bad character designs." She flew around Margaret and landed on the window stilt. "So, why did you make that wish to the Old Sage?"
"Are you from the Old Sage?" Margaret narrowed her eyes at her and picked up a sword at the edge of the bed and pointed it at her. "Or are you from my husband?"
"Wow. You must really hate your husband." Lillian remarked, floating closer to her. "What did he do?"
"If you are from my husband, shouldn't you know?" She pointed the sword closer to her but Lillian only passed through it.
"Duchess, can you look out the window?" Lillian asked, sword still passing through her. "I'll show you something."
She sat on the window stilt again, looking out to the garden. Margaret slowly walked to the window and looked out it.
"At the other side of this garden is where the Old Sage is and it is dying, because of what your husband did to me. That's also why I look like this." She looked up at the duchess pleadingly with her beady eyes.
Please buy what I said. Please buy it.
"My husband did this to you? But he promised not to touch- well, what did I even expect from him anyway?" Margaret sighed and snapped her fingers. The chair on the ground came back up and she sat on it, head in her hands.
"I don't know if I should believe you or not, you could very well be from my husband. But … I'd rather risk him finding out my plan than this. I am so so sorry, Fairy Godmother. If you are the Fairy Godmother." She looked at Lillian sadly, guilt and fear in her eyes.
"I don't wish to make you this uncomfortable, Duchess. If I could take care of this myself then I would have but I really couldn't. I'm losing time and my magic, I don't know how much longer I can remain like this either." Lillian begged she hated this feeling of helplessness that grew with every minute that passed by.
I can't believe that I've resorted to begging now.
Margaret dug her fingernails into the palms of her hands, her forehead creasing.
"When I first met Geno, he was the sweetest person alive; very charming and gentle, and I easily fell in love with him. He would shower me with praises and gifts even long after we got married.
"But Roman did warn me about him. You see he and Roman were childhood friends as were Roman and I, we met each other at his coronation and started talking then. Geno lived a few states away, but he would come to visit us and we three grew closer then.
"Roman noticed how close we were getting, so he pulled me aside one day and told me that Geno is actually a very manipulative person, one that hungers for power and will do anything to get it.
"I honestly laughed when I first heard him say that. How could such a kind and gentle man be manipulative? I haven't even seen him use his magic even once. A power-hungry man will always be using magic, wouldn't he? Even when I saw it once, with my own eyes, I didn't accept it." She smiled sadly.
"It was during a ceremony, we had just gotten married then. You know, this much magic wasn't always available freely like this. The Old Sage and some others like it most of the magic, distributing it to the public sparingly, to avoid abuse of magic. So they were fiercely protected by the royal family's guards wherever they were.
"The ceremony I spoke of, is a way for the people to celebrate the Magic Providers and show their gratitude. People will eat and drink, celebrate and party. It was such a fun time." She smiled fondly at the memory, her expression turning dim. "Security was tighter but it's hard with the number of people celebrating.
"Roman and I have been looking forward to this and were, to put it mildly, excited. What we didn't know was what Geno was planning behind our backs. Since he's with the royal family, he'll have the chance to be closest to those Magic Providers.
"It's a plan he worked a long time on and would have been able to carry it out if only the Old Sage hadn't done something. We were on our way to the celebration when he told us to go on ahead.
"Roman felt like something was wrong but I told him to not worry so much." She buried her head in her hands, tears flowing freely. "Next thing we knew, the Magic Providers burst into fire one after the other, killing so many people and destroying them at the same time. It was a blood bath. I have never seen anything so disastrous in my life.
"Only the Old Sage was unharmed because of Roman. He was very protective of the Old Sage and wouldn't allow anyone to visit it, especially not Geno.
"From what we know, he's been visiting every tree, planting spells on them and setting them on fire so that he could inherit the magic they possessed. What he didn't know is that, once they are destroyed, the magic doesn't go to the person that destroyed them, it gets dispersed all around.
"Roman was so angry when we found out that it was Geno and was ready to give him some harsh punishment but I, foolishly, begged him to spare him." Margaret laughed and cried at the same time, regret in her voice. "I don't know what I was thinking. How did I get so wrapped up in his little finger, that I defended a genocide? And Roman, out of the kindness of his heart just banished him and didn't tell the people about it either. This has left a bitter taste among the people, towards Roman.
"It took a while but Roman, somehow, was able to bring the Kingdom up again. But his name remained tarnished from that incident and he never showed his face in public again from the shame he felt towards them."
Margaret sighed again, wiping her eyes with her handkerchief, trying to calm herself down.
"I apologise for saying this, Duchess." Lillian looked at the poor woman, sniffling. "But, you were really selfish."
"I know." She bawled. "So many people got killed, their lives were destroyed and all I could think of was that man. What kind of person am I?"
"Is that why you didn't bargain with anyone in the marketplace, no matter how much they charged?" Lillian bit her tongue but it was too late, she had already said it out.
"How did you know about that? Only Lady Lillian and I-" She gasped. "Lady Lillian! She was so hurt and when I tried to help treat her wounds, she disappeared. You don't think-"
"Duchess." Ferret Lillian called out to her, trying to get her to focus again on her story, though she appreciates her concern. Lillian felt the magic on her body wearing away as she became more transparent. "You still haven't told me why you made that wish, please hurry."
"Oh, you see, ever since that day, he has not been paying as much attention to me as he did. He lets me do whatever I want and doesn't bother much with me, I saw that as a good thing. Everything was peaceful and I even got to adopt my children, they are the pride of my life and the joy of my every being. But, I got pregnant and he suddenly showered with so much love again. I was happy until I saw him that night. A violet book in hand, murmuring words to himself. I checked it the next day and, apparently, he's been working on spells and placing them on his child. He still hasn't given up the thought of attaining power." Fresh tears came on her eyes. "I thought he changed. I thought he finally changed but …"
"What was the spell, duchess?" Lillian urged her, flying a little too close to her face.
"Well, he-"
Lillian felt a sharp pull and there she was, in the garden, right next to the decaying Old Sage and Geno.
"Hello, Fairy Godmother. What are you doing here?" He smirked at her, resting his back on the tree.
"Get away from it!" She tried to threaten him but he just laughed and opened his palms, Lillian flew from her spot into his tight grip.
"You've become a pain in the neck, you know that? Have you been talking with me wife? I really should have killed you then. But then, I can kill you now." He squeezed her harder, purple eyes glowing with glee. "Such a pathetic way to die don't you think so?"
Lillian felt black spots cloud her entire vision as she tried to struggle out of his grasp. Something warm spread through her entire body as she began to get numb.
A bright arrow shot straight through Geno's arm. Hissing in pain, he dropped Lillian and pulled the arrow off his arm.
In a swift movement, someone grabbed Lillian just as she was about to hit the ground and they disappeared in a flash. Leaving the Geno laughing like a maniac in the garden.
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