Evelina stood in front of Angelina's door bedroom.
"What has she been doing there..." Evelina spoke quietly so only Carol, her personal maid could hear her.
"I'm not sure, miss...."
"Hmph...you don't know anything!" Evelina glared at Carol.
"M-my a.. apologies, m'lady..."Carol lowered her head, trembling in fear.
After a while they eventually left.
*********
"Sigh..... finally" Angelina sighed as she put down her paintbrush and messaged her sore shoulders.
Two knocks could be heard.
"Miss?" Marie came in, carefully carrying a cart of food.
Marie was already used to delivering Angelina's food to the bedroom. She knew Angelina hated eating in the dining room.
For the past few days, Angelina has rarely showed up to eat with her family. She started eating in her bedroom.
The duchess was concerned so she went to Angelina. Angelina made an excuse. She said that she didn't want to eat with everyone because she couldn't get along with Alex.
The duchess understood and let Angelina be.
"Is Miss tired?" Marie let go of the cart and approached Angelina.
"Why don't I give miss a message?" Marie was concerned. Angelina has always been very sickly since young. She was worried that the 'weak and sickly miss' would overwork herself.
"That would be nice" Angelina nodded.
Angelina laid down on her bed. Her back facing Marie.
Marie began giving her a message gently.
After two minutes Marie spoke.
"Alright miss, the food will turn cold"
"Mmhm" Angelina yawned and got up lazily.
*********
Charles was currently eating lunch with royal family.
And as expected, the atmosphere wasn't very good...
The emperor and empress has three children. Two sons and a daughter.
The empress did give birth to another daughter, but she died soon after she was born due to illness.
"........."
"........"
"........." The crown prince, the second prince and the youngest princess fell very uncomfortable.
The second prince, Leon leaned next to Alistair, the crown prince and whispered.
"Brother...can I go now...? I don't feel like eating anymore..."
"Shh! You are in the presence of the neighboring empire's emperor! Don't act impolite! Do you want to embarrass father emperor!?" Alistair shot glares towards Leon, warning him.
"Hmph! Fine!" Leon glanced at Charles, only to find Charles staring at him.
"Ah!" Leon was shocked and accidentally dropped his fork.
"........." Alistair was facepalming on the inside.
'this fool!'
"........"
"......."
"......."
"....pardon my son, your highness "
"It's alright, emperor"
Leon pouted. Charles was only four years older than him, why is he acting like he's all that!
Under the long dining table, Alistair kicked Leon foot.
"!?" Leon was confused and startled.
"Don't cause trouble!" Alistair whispered.
"Okay! Geez!" Leon muttered, still pouting.
They were all afraid of annoying Charles. No one wanted to offend the ruthless and cold emperor.
However there was only one thing on Charles's mind, perhaps more like someone.
He was thinking about that scene. The scene he will never forget.
He was in horrible condition. His face was covered in dust and bruises.
It was near winter, and he was freezing. He was wearing nothing but rags and covering himself with a thin a blanket.
It seemed that all hope was lost for him. He was going to die as a homeless child in the streets.
Not only was he freezing, he was also incredibly hungry.
He felt faint, but it was at that moment he met that petite and cute little girl.
She held out her hand and said.
"Poor boy, you must be cold and hungry. Why don't you follow big sister home? This noble big sister shall give you delicious food and a warm place to stay." The beautiful little girl said gently while smiling sweetly.
But now....it seems that the same girl he met years ago...has forgotten him.
*********
The next day, Angelina once again met Eric. She was confused on why she always ended up meeting this particular slave.
Angelina found Eric sleeping below a tree. He looked quite at peace.
For an unknown reason, Angelina always felt there was something wrong about Eric.
It actually wasn't Eric himself, but specifically the dark aura he was giving off.
Angelina's gaze fell on Eric's thin arm.
She frowned.
Even if he is a slave... shouldn't Evelina at least feed him?
He looked like he has barely eaten.
"Marie" Angelina turned to Marie who was standing near her.
"Yes miss?"
"I need you to do something for me"
"...?"
An hour later, Eric woke up. He got up and made his way to a locked room inside the mansion. That was his bedroom.
Only he, Evelina, and Evelina's personal maid, Carol had the key.
Usually, Evelina would lock him in at night to pervent him from escaping. But one day Evelina forgot to lock the door, and Eric took the chance to explore the mansion.
He knew he wouldn't be able to leave the mansion, he only wanted to take the chance to finally do what he wanted.
To do something at his will. Not someone else's.
But only after thirty minutes of enjoying the quiet and lonely atmosphere, he met Angelina.
A beautiful girl with silver hair and charming gold eyes.
The moonlight shined on the beautiful young lady's long silver hair. Making her look even more beautiful and gave her a mysterious and cold aura.
Elegant and mysterious.
That was Eric's first impression of Angelina.
He had spent years in the mansion, but that was the first time he met Angelina .
Inside the 'bedroom' was two candles.
There was no bed inside the room. Eric slept on the floor.
The room had always gave off a dark aura. After all that's where he would cast spells to Evelina's pleasure.
If someone were to offend Evelina or get in her way, she would ask Eric to 'deal with them'.
He would either curse them to death, curse them to misfortune, and more.
Evelina wanted him to curse Angelina to death. She wanted Angelina dead. Evelina told him he needed to cast a curse on Angelina that would make her seem like she died of illness.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't.
It was as if something was protecting Angelina. Like some sort of barrier.
He didn't know what to do. It seems he was approching the last days of his life.
He knew Evelina didn't have a good temper. She would definitely take her frustrations out on him.
If only he could just escape. But he couldn't. That oath will always follow him and Evelina will always find him in the end.
He couldn't disobey. If he did, he would die.
He followed Evelina so he could live a better life, not to use his magic to kill others.
Just as Eric was deep in thought, he heard someone knocking on his door.
He opened the door to reveal....no one.
He looked around and found no one.
Then he noticed a warm bowl of soup, water, and three pieces of bread in front of his door.
______________________
A/N: yes... indeed...a new clue for Charles's backstory! Can you guess what happened? (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)
Thanks for reading! I appreciate it a lot (人*'∀｀)｡*ﾟ+