Shades of the New World

"They were both commoners, but apparently our mother's life was just slightly better than yours in their childhood. Not only in their lives, our mother was more talented, more beautiful and more popular than her. So, of course, Isla got jealous. She robbed a few people and used the money to buy beauty products. Later, someone recognized her when she was trying to buy accessories with her ill-earned money. Obviously, she got caught and prosecuted, hence the criminal record on her name," Arelyn started her story.

Bella didn't know anything about her mother's past, so she wasn't in a hurry to dish out the punishment, yet. Her mother's love for trinkets wasn't a secret. Even when she was lying ill in her room, she would be wearing one accessory or another.

"Later, our mother was lucky enough to receive the attention of the County Earl's son. Our father. Their love was like a novel, two young lovers against the world. There were many who opposed such a marriage, mostly from our father's family, but you mother was among those people as well," Arelyn narrated.

Bella listened silently.

"Although I couldn't find how they managed to get married in the end, they did, and had us. You know who came to the mansion following those two? Your mother. Like a leech that just couldn't deal with reality, she came to the house as a servant and started spreading slander about our mother in the mansion. Isla then seduced our father, who she didn't even love that much. Our mother had two children so her beauty already was fading, not to mention that she was pregnant with a third child, so Isla's beauty was enough to rope in our useless excuse of a father," Arelyn said, gradually speaking with more and more emotion.

She got up and started shaking Bella with her hands, as the little girl stood still as a statue. She did not want to believe her sister's story, but the rational part of her mind was connecting the story with her mother's behavior. Her unnatural obsession, her hate towards the late wife of the Earl, the hate and jealousy that the servants showed towards her.

"And you know what your whore of a mother did? She fucking poisoned our mother. Waited for our father to leave for a business trip and right as the chance came, she locked our mother in a fucking dungeon cell. Just like her little offspring. And you know what? She shoved poison down her childhood friend's throat, because why? She couldn't handle that someone else was doing better than her? Why the fuck didn't she go poison the Empress, then? I'd think the fucking Empress would be first on her pathetic hate-list!" Arelyn spat out with hatred.

The stink and saliva from her mouth pervaded Bellaslayn's face. The little girl frowned subconsciously and shoved Arelyn away.

"Shut up…" Bella managed to utter.

"I saw it all happen. I went to my mother's room, to give her a little surprise in the morning. But since I couldn't find her in it, I started searching the mansion. And do you know what I saw? I saw your mother, that disgusting excuse of a human being, walking out of the dungeon cells, h-hurriedly hiding a bottle of something… h-her pockets," tears streamed from Arelyn's eyes uncontrollably. Her voice started shaking and stammering, unable to properly articulate the sentence.

It took a minute for her to calm down, and Bella could notice that her sister's grief was being overrun by her cold wrath.

"The mansion's guards started searching for her only in the afternoon. And found her in the dungeons only in the evening. She was dead from poisoning," Arelyn continued in a monotone voice.

Her sister's grief pervaded Bella, as she started feeling guilt for the things she planned to do.

"I told father how I found Isla with a bottle of something walking out of the dungeon cells… And you know what his reaction was? He pretended like I never said a thing. Just like he does when we bully you in front of her. A joke, or perhaps some new game, he would tell himself. A few months after that, he got your mother pregnant… And you were born," Arelyn let go of Bella and kneeled down on the cold stone floor and continued.

"I can't stop hating you. I know it wasn't your fault, but I just can't. I see you training hard on your magic studies, and truly, I feel envious, but I can't allow myself to feel such things. Isn't that exactly how your mother felt when she saw our mother? I can't help but vent my anger on you. You were the outcome of my mother's death, after all," Arelyn said spitefully.

"Shut up." Bella couldn't bear to hear no more.

"You know, you looked so similar to your mother. That look of envy when you glanced towards that boy, that Child of the Empress. That obsession... Personally, I can't wait for the day when you finally go bat-shit insane and try to kill that boy. Knowing that it's exactly what your mother did," Arelyn smirked and continued.

"But don't worry about that commoner boy, he's not worthy of you envy. Children of the Empress are nothing but swindlers: they're just a bunch of old men who happened to be reborn inside a baby's body," Arelyn revealed.

"Shut up!" Bella picked her sister up and threw her toward the dungeon cell.

Arelyn groaned from the pain, but she didn't give in to Bellaslayn's violence.

"I can't believe a bitch like your mother gave birth to a mage. Guess she felt that using common methods to rob and kill wasn't good enough, so she decided to shit out a mage, so it can continue her decrepit legacy," Arelyn said through her tears.

"SHUT UP!!!" Bella screeched and punched Arelyn in the mouth as hard as she could. Arelyn's small face was ruined in an instant, her jaw dislocated and some of teeth falling from her mouth.

"Huuuurrrgghgh!"

A broken wail resounded through the dungeon cells. Arelyn wanted to scream, but her broken jaw did not allow her to make the usual scream. She didn't expect her sister to actually go to such lengths. She was too used to saying whatever she wanted without any consequences.

Fear and panic appeared on her face and she hurriedly held her arms in front of her face, shaking.

"Stho!" she tried to say stop, but Bella did not heed her words, instead giving her sister another punch on the guts.

The sounds of mad violence echoed continuously in the chambers.

Bellaslayn thrashed madly at her sister. Her eyes were red with wrath, blood flowing from her fists. She clawed at her sister, no sign of sanity could be found on her face.

"Stop! You're going to kill her!" Olevyn clung onto the little girl and begged her to stop, but was thrown away by the bloodshot Bella.

Hopeless, the middle sister ran outside the dungeon cells to call for help.

A minute later, two confused guards came in to dungeon.

"Stop! Bella, stop!" The guards shouted at her, but the girl remained fixated on her sister.

The two tried to stop Bella, but were unable to hold the little girl back. The girl thrashed like the two guards didn't exist and continued pounding the disfigured figure of her eldest sister.

"Hit her on the head! Just let her fall unconscious! She's a mage, she's going to be fine!" one of them shouted.

The guards could not think of something else, so they slammed their spear on the little girl's head. Hit with black steel on her head, Bellaslayn's consciousness finally fell into darkness.