GLIMMER AND DECAY [COMPLETED]

CHAPTER 7

A FEW YEARS AGO.

ONCE UPON A TIME, in a faraway land, there lived a beautiful princess named Princess Arianna. She was the first princess of the Kingdom of Corona, and the eldest daughter to the King and Queen.

Princess Arianna, apart from her beautiful appearance, was loved by their people and her family. And what should the expectation for her temperament be as a princess showered with affection? To grow up as a loving princess.

However, Arianna grew up to be a mean and spoiled princess who bullied the weak. This started when her younger sister was born. The attention that was only given to her was now shared with her younger sibling, Princess Graciella.

Despite all the love showered to the two princesses, Arianna still hated her sister. She wanted to be the only princess loved by their parents and the kingdom. For this, Arianna did a lot of bad things to Graciella.

She would often push her whenever she would see the youngest playing on her own. And sometimes, Arianna would pull various pranks on her sister.

The King and Queen were not aware of the hatred that the first princess was bearing all through the years. They were all under the impression that the first princess loved her younger sister with all her heart, making it even more difficult for Graciella.

However, regardless of the hate poured onto her by her eldest sister, Graciella remained silent. She believed that her sister would soon come to love her once they both grew up as adults.

And so she was patient, always forgiving Arianna for every bad thing she would do to her. But contrary to her beliefs, Arianna seemed adamant that her abhorrence for her younger sister would not end even if one of them dies.

There was a time when the royal family visited one of their neighboring kingdoms. It was specifically a feast where the King and Queen were invited. They brought their daughters thinking that the two princesses will have fun. But due to an unfortunate event, a life was cast away.

"Can we really enter this place, older sister?" The eight-year-old Graciella asked. Arianna frowned at her question.

They were in the middle of the woods, outside the territory of the Kingdom of Ingvarr. Arianna was the first one to find the odd cottage surrounded by spiked rocks when she was looking outside of the guest room using an old telescope. The cottage was a few miles away from Ingvarr Castle, close to a cliff.

Arianna might not be thinking clearly due to her being only a 12-year-old spoiled kid. But it could be assumed how bold her decisions are–and obnoxious, if we may add. Arianna then asked her younger sister to come with her.

Graciella was overjoyed to the point of her not realizing that this might be another prank of her older sister. Besides, this was the first time that Arianna asked her to play together. The little princess brought her favorite unicorn bag along with her teddy bear as they ventured outside.