Chapter 11 - Sisterly Love - Roxana & Charlotte
My father seemed to enjoy my words. He said he would consider my proposal, but it was only a formality. His content and generous expression told me that Cassis would exclusively be under my care in future.
When Jeremy and I were excused from dinner, we bade our father farewell before leaving the dining hall. My mouth still felt filthy from describing the villainous acts I would do unto Cassis. They were all false statements. If I tortured Cassis excessively before releasing him from the castle, he might remember the shame I had inflicted on him. The result wouldn’t change from the original novel. Instead of feeling indebted, he might come back with allies and take his revenge on me.
I only said the exact words that would please my father’s taste. Lant Agriche would want any Pedelian to be ruined and tortured in the most despicable way. Inflicting pain on a Pedelian would not please my father enough. He wanted to see the Pedelian heir break in mind, body, and spirit.
“Sana, are you really going to play with the toy by yourself?” Jeremy said, walking beside me. He was still dumbstruck. I had already told him that I had an interest in Cassis, but he was starting to understand how much the prisoner meant to me; enough that I would even seek our father’s approval.
This young boy. He squinted his eyes, thinking deeply. His mouth, usually lax or excited, was now pressed into a thin line. He seemed to feel threatened that I would pay less attention to him if I began to spend more time with Cassis.
“Yes, I want to play with the toy,” I replied.
I felt someone’s presence behind me. Jeremy and I stopped speaking and turned to see the new arrival.
“What are you saying? Unni is going to teach the toy in the dungeons now?” A shrill, weedy voice shot across the corridor. Her tone was edged deeply with malice.
My younger sister, Charlotte.
She was one of my more insecure siblings that was still alive. Red hair enclosed her smooth, young face and clashed terribly with her green eyes. She hated her appearance because she did not resemble our father, Lant Agriche, at all.
In a way, I envied her. No matter how beautiful I was, I would always feel bitter at my reflection. I had inherited my father’s red eyes and thin cheeks that only accentuated my feminine features.
Charlotte scrunched her cute nose, disliking the conversation she had overheard. It was even more of an embarrassment to be found snooping around the dining hall since she had not been invited to the dinner, but she couldn’t hold back from showing herself after overhearing that her precious toy would be taken from her.
I smiled. “Yes, Charlotte. During dinner, I made a request to have the toy for myself.”
Since Dion had been absent, the family dinner had ended earlier than usual. Charlotte must have been surprised to see us leave so early. Her hiding place behind the curtain had not been well thought out. She seemed to have had the idea of talking to father alone to ask his permission to have the toy. She had already made a fuss with the guardsman in the dungeon to see Cassis.
Father wasn’t strict with most toys. After using them for a day or two for work-related purposes, he usually gave the remains to his children. The restraining order for Cassis had already reached four days. The length of time had made Charlotte anxious.
“That doesn’t make sense. It was mine first from the beginning!” Charlotte cried out angrily. Her resentment was written all over her face in big, bold letters. In her mind, she had already taken possession of the new toy.
Father hadn’t made an official decision yet, but I decided to stay quiet about this fact. I had seen Charlotte’s eyes shine when she had first seen Cassis Pedelian. His face matched Charlotte’s taste perfectly, as if he were an idol singer she adored and wanted to persecute.
I clicked my tongue, slightly irritated at Cassis for being a chad.
“Hey, you think you’re important enough to have the first claim?” Jeremy laughed coldly. It was a cruel sound since he took an honest pleasure in seeing Charlotte upset.
Charlotte didn’t care how obnoxious she sounded. “Roxana has never been interested in toys! It’s not fair! And you!” she turned to me. “Why do you believe you can drop in when you like and take what’s mine?”
She had overstepped herself. I had to say something.
“Charlotte,” I spoke lazily. I talked slowly to make sure she understood. “Father has absolute authority over every toy. Whoever earns his respect will take priority. Of course, you were given some of the toys before because your elder siblings had no interest in them. Today is different. Do you really think you have a higher authority than me?” Really, you? An insignificant little brat? I tilted my face and gazed at her tenderly. My eyes told her that she was someone beneath me.
Charlotte could hear the warning in my calm voice. She was intelligent, but unused to any opposition. Her character was fiery and spontaneous. Although her spirit was dampened, she carried on stubbornly. “I can’t give it to you, Unni. It’s my toy. If anyone else covets it, I won’t stand aside.” She glared at me, preparing herself for a shouting match.
“Charlotte,” I said again, sympathetically. I spoke her name easily as if I were reproving a child. “Do you comprehend what you are saying now?” I sighed.
Charlotte grabbed a whip from her waist, ready to fight.
“I see,” I smiled. “Alright, my cute little sister. I’ll explain what I mean so even someone as stupid as you will understand.”
It didn’t take long for my point to come across.
“Really, I hate children who learn slowly,” my hand fell quietly to my slide. I gazed curiously at the red stream of blood that fell down Charlotte’s cheek and dripped onto the white floor. I acted like an innocent bystander as if someone else had harmed her, but the evidence was absolute. One of my hairpins was missing.
“Why bother me when you know you can’t win?” My hair fell loosely over my back and shoulders as I continued to speak. My right hand was now grasping five smaller jeweled pins that shone in the dark corridor like dark ruby claws.
Charlotte’s face blanked and she fell backward, losing the fiery insolence that had lit her before. Her elbows leaned against the floor, barely keeping her head up. The blood moved slightly across her cheek—as if she were crying— and dried in her hair.
I stepped on her foot.
“Charlotte, do you really think I need your permission to have a toy I want?” I said.
“Ugh,” she groaned, as I dug my heel in.
“Is that what you think?” I gave a friendly smile.
Abusing Charlotte did not bring me joy. She was only a child brainwashed from this family since birth, but if I did not temper her, she would take advantage of my compassion and climb over me as one of father’s favorites.
I grew annoyed. She wasn’t even an opponent but a useless bug that irritated me. It was becoming cumbersome to put her in her place.
Instead of looking humiliated from touching the filthy ground with her backside, she shot me a poisonous look.
“When I become unni’s age, I’ll be stronger,” she mumbled darkly. She pouted as if she wanted to kill me.
I gave a soft laugh that made her flinch. She was still afraid of me, but her cheek continued to make her mouth move.
“Why do you even bother people you can’t win against?” Jeremy spoke up.
He had been leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, but now stood straight. He glanced at Charlotte, unimpressed, before speaking to me.
“Noona, I’ll clean up,” he told me.
I moved my eyes from him to Charlotte and back slowly, before I walked past the both of them.