Magdalin's Point of View
I stare down at the blank polished wooden floor of our family house in the capital... now stained with splatters of my blood.
Father is at the meeting at the palace. My brothers too.
Only mother is left here today, looming over my undressed and helpless body.
Even though I've done nothing bad, the cracks of the cane persist in a seemingly endless stream... causing my body to sear and burn like it is being torn apart up by mother's hatred.
She has never gone this far before, but this too is my fault.
It wasn't too bad at first. It hurt, but it was just single strikes against the bare skin of my back and thighs... but each stinging crack of the cane merged together until it became like a sea of flames on my back and legs. I don't think I'll be able to stand... my body won't stop trembling.
It hurts... but the doors and windows are blocked off by stone walls.
"Scream!"
Mother's hoarse voice echoes through the room like a pig's shriek. She pants from exhaustion before another crack resounds... and more blood splatters onto the wooden floor next to me... mixing with the many tears already fallen.
"How dare you tell him?! After everything that has happened why do you continue to shame this family?!"
I had messed up. They'd beaten my hands bloody for running off, and I'd asked Lily-sama to heal it when I could hardly hold a glass. When mother found out, she became like this. Father doesn't know... but I don't think he'd care. Michael wouldn't care either... he practically did the same.
"Leeching off of a hero like a parasite! Sullying our name!"
Leeching?...
Have I leeched off Lady Lily's kindness? Have I escaped into her calmness to forget about all of this?...
A sudden, vicious, strike hits my side rather than my back, digging into the soft flesh by the hip, causing me to scream out. I weakly try to cover the spot with my elbows as my sight begins to blacken.
If I hadn't asked Lily-sama for help and had endured the pain instead, then things wouldn't have gone this far...
Mother pants heavily. I can hear the sound of the cane scraping against the floor... back and forth.
"If not for that cuckoo mother of yours-"
The blinding hate still lingers in her voice. The disgust...
I've certainly clung to Lily-sama... but I know that mother is wrong.
I am not a parasite...
Five years ago I asked Lily-sama if she kept me by her side out of pity... and I remember Lily-sama's answer clearly, and the somewhat cold look as she had replied with an insulted huff: 'Why would I pity the strong?'
Lily-sama had sipped her tea, and then leaned back in the garden chair calmly and continued.
'If you wanted to punish your family, then the fools would suffer horribly.'
Her eyes had gleamed with cruelty.
I watch the tears and blood begin to mix on the floor beneath me.
"I... am not... a changeling," I wheeze out, slowly turning my face to see mother's expression.
"...my mother is you. Even if you are afraid of it."
Horror.
Momentary horror paints her flustered and now pallid face.
Then anger.
She reaches down with the maddened eyes of a bull and grasps my hair with her sweaty blistering hand and pulls, so the hair and her nails rips at my scalp like a razor... and then the strikes fall again... on my chest, stomach and arms.
...She looks so desperate...
"I'll make you regret this..." I hiss out, laying in smears of my own blood and tears.
I know the truth... that mother does this because she's so terrified she cannot bare it. That she feels it's unfair I became like this though she never cheated. But this is enough.
—-*—-
"...Mmmm I may be able to find someone fitting... but are you sure about this? It will cost you, Miss Magdalin Ruche."
The man stares at me with a cautious look as though he worries for my safety. I'd snuck away from Michael who has been guarding me ever since mother's whipping.
Michael is not letting anyone near, but thankfully that includes mother.
In the end he is afraid as well.
"Yes. As long as it brings no harm to Lily-sama," I reply dryly as I turn my gaze down upon the marble floor to stare at my reflection.
My skin burns and stings at the mere touch of the fabric, but I must endure.
"Shouldn't you go to Lily Celeste for something like this? Why make a deal with me?"
As little as I want to go into details of the matter, I feel like he might go to Lily-sama if I don't answer him. It may be a deal we are making, but I am not the one with the leverage here.
"Lily-sama's solution is simple. She will eradicate them until House Ruche consists only of me. I don't want them to die. I want them to regret every single time they said I wasn't theirs. Something like this plan is something far more indirect than Lily-sama would ever do."
I look back up and find him give a nod.
"I see. Though, wouldn't it be as easy to get married and cut off all contact with them?" he asks as though that would be easier than the plan we just discussed... no, it would be, but...
I squeeze my hands together tightly as I answer.
"Even if I had a person in mind..."
I hesitate a bit. After the battle I've seen Milet-sama and his father, Count Greenhall, but...
"...I see. It is fine. Everything you planned should be ready for when you return from the peace negotiations, but you'll have to put in some effort if you want it to go well," he replies calmly.
In the end, I end up faking a smile.
"It won't be a problem."
—-*—-
Lily's Point of View - A Couple Days Later
It's uncomfortable.
Magdalin is acting off. Her movements. Her smile. They feel off...
To set alight my already exhausted patience, I cannot ask her what is going on. Her second brother, Michael Ruche, is acting as a big looming guard dog, that keeps getting in the way of any guys trying to talk to her. His eyes gleam at me with admiration, but also a strong desire for admiration.
It's petty.
I tried to ignore it and entertained him for a little while to get close to Magdalin, but he didn't budge. If anything, he got even more cautious when I tried and excused both of them quickly. Purposely drawing her away from me. No matter how you look at it, it's suspicious.
I shift my weight to lean onto the white railing of one of the balconies overlooking the palace gardens. I claw at the white stone and let my eyes follow Magdalin and her brother touring the greenery peacefully.
Something is definitely wrong.
Yet, Magdalin isn't giving me a look for help.
It makes my skin crawl with frustration as though I've been locked in a cage.
Even if we have to leave for the negotiations tomorrow, it just isn't soon enough.
I'd never thought I'd be so annoyed with having the role of a man... but changing back to the role of Lily is just too dangerous. I end up gritting my teeth as I watch them closely. If he's doing something to Magdalin then I'm putting him on the front line when we deal with House Salender.
No, perhaps I should just do so either way.
"If you glare at the poor guy like that he will end up with a heart attack, Augustus," Wolfram speaks up behind me with a hint of worry in his voice.
I narrow my eyes at Michael one last time before glancing behind me where I find Wolfram and Eric approach me. The two of them have been getting closer since the battle.
"You don't need to worry too much, Augustus. It's probably just a security measure because of the rumors that started going around," Eric says to calm me down as I let my gaze shift back to Magdalin's small petite figure.
"Probably. I just can't shake the feeling that something is off."
That's right, the rumors that Magdalin is a child switched at birth has started swirling around court, even among the men. You have no idea how long it took me to pull this truth out of Magdalin when I asked her why her family was mistreating her.
Yes, mistreating.
Both Kenta and I grew up with physical punishments, but never something like that. What Magdalin goes through is lack of composure from her parents.
Of course, this is my personal opinion, and not one shared by the culture here. Their corporal punishment is quite different from that of my old world, but what is in common is that none bat an eye if the family goes a bit too far.
I'm worried that what Magdalin is going through will get worse because of the rumors. Children switched and found out will not have a safe life. Especially in my own world. I just hope it isn't the same here.
"Mmmm you sure are fond of her, Augustus. I heard she even took care of you when you were passed out."
Wolfram decides to test my patience, and with a lack of patience, I nearly bite. Curiosity gleams in his teal eyes as I snap my head in his direction, feeling my stomach churning.
"Another word in that direction and it will cost you, Wolfram. Miss Magdalin's sweetheart is Milet Greenhall. The son of Count Greenhall," I growl out at him. I know it isn't nice and polite, but he wasn't exactly being nice or considerate of the situation. Magdalin is going through enough already. Dealing with rumors of sleeping with a man despite being unmarried is the last thing she needs right now, especially with someone like Augustus. Women can be so petty.
Eric grimaces as he watches Magdalin. Just as aware of the situation as I am.
"You know that marriage won't happen anymore. Not the way things are turning out. Her connection to Lily is becoming meaningless since Lily won't become queen, and with Magdalin's status being doubted like this it's practically impossible to keep Count Greenhall's attention."
...That's right.
I scratch across the stone surface of the railing again before pushing off and heading towards the door.
"If I find out who is spreading this rumor they're dead," I hiss out under my breath.
If Magdalin gets hurt because of this rumor then everyone involved is going to be on the front line.
Willing or not.
The best that can happen is nothing. If the family agrees officially with the changeling part and Magdalin thus loses her status, then it's a matter of time if I can get a hold of her before someone does something foolish...
The worst that can happen...
The worst that can happen is that they sell her off as a plaything far out of my reach.
—-*—-
Magdalin lets out a soft sigh and shrinks under my gaze as we wait for the carriage to get in place. I am finally acting as Lily again, but Magdalin hasn't told me anything that's going on. I know we are currently watched closely by guards since princess Emilia is here, but Emilia probably already knows anyway. Also, Princess Emilia has refuse to tell me what is going on and instead just smiled at me. On top of refusing to tell me what is going on, she also demanded that I borrow her Darius for the peace negotiation.
At least Magdalin is here. Her father didn't seem fond of the idea of letting Magdalin go along with us, but when Emilia insisted, there wasn't much he could do. Michael still guarded her all the way here, and he's still watching closely from a bit away, but at least Magdalin is freed from their observation for now.
Thus, that puts us here with me trying to get it out of Magdalin.
"...Lily-sama... I am alright."
Her silvery eyes give me a look of relief as her lips curl up into a smile, but I don't intend on giving in.
"Uhm, Lily-sama. The dress looks a bit tight, are you okay?"
...
"Don't try to get out-"
"It looks like it's about to burst..." she whispers with a bit of fascination and a raised eyebrow.
I flinch and try to draw my shoulders closer to my body.
"It's fine," I grumble.
"Now-"
Magdalin takes my hand and pulls it up towards my shoulder... stopping as the usually skin fitting sleeve of the dress, which now begins to tighten even more like it's about to burst as she tightens my biceps.
"...Lily-sama... that's not where a dress is usually tight for a woman," she adds teasingly as she glances down at the chest section that's looser than it used to be.
"He-ro - sa-ma."
She gently takes the hand she was messing with and holds it gently as she gets a bit more serious.
"You don't need to worry, Lily-sama. Everything will be fine. For now worry about the party."
I feel my shoulders sink at her words.
I still feel like something is wrong, but... if she keeps insisting like this I have to respect it. It's uncouth to bother her too much... I have to trust that whatever is going on is something she has plans of handling on her own.
"...As you wish..." I grumble out quietly, turning my head away disapprovingly.
In response Magdalin begins curling and uncurling my biceps as though it's the most amusing thing she's seen this year...
Look... we were in war and I wasn't thinking I would end up in a dress before I died so I bulked up a bit.
Rttcch.
Princess Emilia hides a snort of laughter as the sleeve of the gown rips open...
Even if the only one of us laughing is the princess, I feel like I've lost... Even Magdalin hides a little laughter, which ends up calming me down a bit. I... I might just be too on edge because of the peace treaty meeting and Kenta's death.
The carriage pulls up, and the soldiers escorting us peek to the two laughing girls curiously.
Only Lionel seems somewhat distant and immune to the sweet laughter.