บท 7: The Child Slave
(The Dukedom Bessa's Garden)
"My Lady, be careful!"
Lucy shouted as the young girl sprinted towards the huge garden in the back of the estate with a wide and rosy smile.
"I know! I know, Lucy! I promise I'll be careful!"
Inanna shouted back as she stopped sprinting and turned towards her nanny's voice in the direction behind herself.
"My Lady, please don't run so fast. You could fall and get hurt."
The nanny advised in a worried tone as she neared the scarlet-hair girl.
"Lucy, you sound just like brother Agnes."
Inanna snickered while taking a quick glance at her nanny and plucked a dandelion growing out of place in the garden.
'How pretty.' Inanna thought as a wider smile appeared on her beaming face.
Minutes prior to their arrival, both of them agreed to visit the garden first before visiting Inanna's brother in the training grounds.
"Lucy, do mind if I roam around the garden by myself for a bit? I wish to admire the flowers in the garden at my own pace."
Inanna voiced as she didn't want Lucy to stand around for a long time while she took her time admiring the garden. She purely hoped Lucy would rest in the shade while she did so.
"But My Lady—"
"Please Lucy? It'll only be for a little."
Inanna begged with wide and glossy eyes that she knew would shake Lucy's heart.
With a look of defeat, Lucy sighed and presently smiled at the girl. She then agreed with the girl with a simple nod as a signal for the girl to roam around the garden freely as she pleased—knowing they were far from any danger or threats.
"Alright, My Lady. However, all I ask is that you don't wander off too far from where I can see you."
"Yes, thank you, Lucy! I'll be back shortly!"
With that, the girl quickly sprinted more towards the garden as the maid walked under a tree for shade and watched the girl explore and dote on the various flowers.
As Inanna walked further into the garden, she heard a female voice call out to a concentrated Lucy in a friendly tone.
Hearing the feminine voice, Inanna turned her gaze towards the tender greeting and interaction between Lucy and a shorter girl.
The young maid had long medium-brown hair styled in a high ponytail with curtain bangs on each side of her cute facial frame. The girl appeared to be around Judith's age: sixteen.
'That girl must be a maid Lucy looks after and gets along well with. I'm glad.'
Inanna purely smiled at the two girls talking openly about their day and so forth.
At this, Inanna took the sweet interaction between both females as an opportunity to move freely around the garden and perhaps discover something interesting beyond it.
Quietly, the girl moved furtively into the opposite side of the garden and walked around with a triumphant smile at her success in not being seen sneaking her way out by the two distracted females.
'Forgive me, Lucy, but it'll only be for a little.'
With each step Inanna took, her bright yellow dress swayed with elegance as she kept the dandelion in between her crossed hands settled on her lower back.
Observing every detail and different shades of flowers, Inanna's eyes sparkled with joy and excitement. Flowers were her favorite and a hobby she truly enjoyed admiring every morning.
Everything about them intrigued her and reminded her of how beautiful and unique they were. A beautiful creation.
Unfortunately, her good time in the garden didn't last long enough. Almost abruptly, Inanna heard a ruckus somewhere near the garden. It seemed like someone was arguing with another of some sort.
'Huh? Are the knights fighting? Why are they on the opposite end of the training grounds? That's strange.'
With curiosity, Inanna walked toward the unknown feud between both individuals and silently hid behind a bush for safety reasons.
Peaking at the edge of the branches, the startling and upsetting scene shocked Inanna immensely.
There were three people present. One of them was a maid of the house, who was accompanied by a boy wearing tarnished and dirty clothes. Before them was a young nobleman with a low-quality attire, who appeared to be arguing with the household's maid.
What stood out to Inanna most is the boy. She recognized the black hair and bronze skin in her first lifetime, yet his matted, overgrown hair hid the color of his eyes.
'It can't be him.. right?'
In the past lifetime, there was a man famous and widely known throughout the entire empire—Knox Hakken.
A commoner man acknowledged as the right hand and guardian knight of the Crown Prince. A talented knight that became a sword master at the fourteen years of age.
Truth be told, Knox Hakken was originally an abused slave from the black market, but Kavin himself concealed the classified information. Yet, the only thing to confirm if the boy was actually that man was his amber-colored eyes.
Straightaway, Inanna's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but rapidly raised upwards as she remembered something from the past during her childhood years.
'Right! I remember a low-class nobleman came here to sell our father a 'fancy' object from the black market, but I don't recall the item being an actual person.'
At the time, Inanna was oblivious to knowing that the 'fancy item' was, in fact, a person. Meaning, she wasn't exactly aware of what the black market was and how terrible it was. Then again, she was a child that believed the black market was a place to buy expensive and rare items.
Observing the circumstances longer behind the plants, Inanna witnessed how rudely the nobleman belittled the woman and tarnished boy with horrible insults.
To get a better understanding of the situation, Inanna observed the circumstances further while she remained hidden behind the plants.
"How dare a mere enslaved boy refuse to bow down before me!? Do you realize how rude and disrespectful that is to an important nobleman like myself!?"
The young man angrily shouted. He then tried grabbing the boy by the collar of his shirt, but the house maid quickly blocked his aggressive approach toward the unmoving boy.
"I refuse your attempt to hurt a child! The child did nothing wrong except bump into you by accident, Your Lordship!"
The maid bravely confessed as she confronted and protected the child behind her with widespread arms.
Even then, anyone could clearly see the woman trembling from the fright and worry about her position between a nobleman and a commoner woman like herself.
The hierarchy difference was significant and unfair, regardless if the high-class were in the wrong or in the right.
Promptly, Inanna felt an urge to put that absurd man in his place for his entitlement and importance in treating those lower than him poorly and humiliate them in a way he'd enjoy fill his ego as a noble.
Yes, Inanna once had a terrible attitude towards a particular lady, but she never mistreated or took out her negative emotions on someone to fill her pride. She kept their brawl between themselves and no one else.
Inanna knew better than to aim her spite on the innocent bystanders, who obviously did nothing wrong. Not even to those that spoke badly and excluded her in social gatherings for being pursued by many men.
After all, in her childhood and teen days, she was a kind-hearted person before she fell into the darkness. Which is why she felt the immediate need to do something at this moment.
'I won't turn a blind eye to this! I won't let you get away with such a terrible thing!'
To their surprise, the sudden presence of another startled the three individuals as the mysterious person approached the scene and spoke loudly in a displeased tone.
"What do you think you're doing to these two? Step away from them. That's an order."
A small girl stated with a cold stare as her long scarlet-hair swayed in a majestic way.
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