(Two years ago)

"Hey, are you sure that the duke would look for these illegitimate children of his? This better be not a penniless work or I'll just kill these two brats."

"Relax. That man isn't much of an asshole to abandon his blood. He even took in their commoner mother even after she gave birth."

Clari snuggled close to Clion, sitting on the cold and dirty ground somewhere inside a cramped barn with only the voices of the men who took them away could be heard and they were having a conversation outside. The last thing she remembers after waking up next to her brother was that they were out with the servants to walk around downtown. But they were wearing a disguise to his their identity.

"Clari..." Clion whimpered, with only the light coming through the windows, she could see the tears glistening as they trickled down his face nonstop.

"S-stop crying. Father will come g-get us," she was stuttering while she tried to comfort the boy. They may be twins, but she was still older and she shouldn't be crying even though she was scared as well.

The loud opening of the door caused the both of them to flinch, she could feel their bodies trembling looking up at the rough and scary-looking big men who stared down at them with glaring eyes.

"L-let us go!" she shouted, although afraid, trying to act tougher but she immediately got taken over by fear when one of the men walked closer.

He crouched down and frowned.

*SLAP!!*

Her eyes grew wide.

"W-what-"

"Fuck. Shut up! Your voices are irritating!"

"Why did you do that?!"

*SLAP!!*

"Y-you...!"

*SLAP!!*

It was the third slap and Clion was already down on the ground, writhing in pain. His cheeks were red and swollen. Clari's eyes burned and hot tears flowed continuously as she watched her younger twin fall down.

"Clion!!" she shouted and tried to crawl her way towards the boy but she was interrupted when the man kicked the little boy away. It rendered her speechless. She could not move an inch and Clion started to cough violently.

She felt a hand forcefully making her turn by grabbing her by her face, nails digging through her cheeks. The man made her look at him straight before he spoke.

"Didn't I tell you to shut your trap?" he snarled angrily before flinging her away towards her brother.

"One more sound from either of you and the other gets a beating."

It was the last thing they heard from the man before he vacated the room.

Clari sniffled and tried to contain her cries to herself but she still made a sound. She couldn't cover her mouth hence she bit her lower lip until it bled, but not once she heard anything from Clion.

"Clion... are you... still... there?" she asked in between hiccups.

She heard nothing.

Then something pressed to her side as if attempting to initiate a hug.

Clion leaned on her shoulder until the both of them fell asleep.

~~~

Clari smiled brightly to herself when she finally found the box of toys that she was looking for. She spent almost twenty minutes going through the old stuff that they were planning to give away to the countryside churches where many orphans live.

"I will borrow this for a while," she said and was about to lift the box when the light of the basement flickered.

She froze and hoped for it to stop. But to her demise, the magic stone slowly dimmed and took the light that shone throughout the whole basement as darkness took over. She quickly ran towards the stairs to escape, maybe she'll just tell her maids to fetch the toys for her later. She has to get out of there as soon as possible.

When she reached the door, she was confused that it was closed since she left it open so that she wouldn't have to bother putting down the box that she was supposedly holding just to leave the basement. She just brushed it off and grabbed the knob.

It didn't budge.

She twisted again and again but it still didn't open.

"Didn't I tell you to shut your trap?!"

"Fuck. Your voices are irritating."

"How much do you think these brats would sell?"

"Stop crying or I'll kill your brother!"

"Huh? Why isn't this kid making any sound?"

"Your daddy won't come, unfortunately."

"No tears, I said!"

Familiar voices started echoing inside Clari's head as unpleasant memories flooded in without her permission. She desperately put her hands on her ears to make the noises stop, her breathing became heavier and heavier as seconds passed by.

She backed away from the door unknowingly, unaware of the stairs behind her.

And before she knew it, she had rolled down the basement stairs and the coldness of the floor was the last thing she remembered before she gave in to the darkness.

~~~

"I see, that happened."

Avy shifted in her seat after hearing the story of the two children of the Harrington duchy from the head Butler who was seating across her, with only the glass table between them.

"The two of them were found three days later the kidnapping after searching everywhere the culprit could've taken them. His grace even lead the search without resting. It was just that, the men who took them spent all their power not to be traced." the butler's eyes hinted melancholy, a surprising emotion for a person she had only seen sporting nothing but coldness in his gaze every time she met with his stern brown eyes.

"Do you know what was the most shocking thing, Mi'lady?" he then proceeded to stare at her with his leather-colored pair of orbs. She didn't answer, instead just listened closely.

"Young Master Clion was found barely breathing as if he was tortured for three days without any signs of being left alone," he started, Avy's frown deepened with every word he said. "And the lady who had her brother resting on her lap had nothing, not even a scratch or a bruise on her, only the marks that the rope left on her wrists."

"We later found out from her that the criminals would hit the little master whenever she teared up, made any noise, said a word, or just looked at them in the eye. She never cried after that incident again and had always kept her brother close." Craye looked away, his face still devoid of any light and emotion, and only his eyes mirrored the pain that he wanted to convey.

"And the young master... The damage became permanent, causing him to never speak a word or make any sound ever since. We thought he was afraid that he might get hit again, but he was really afraid that those men might come back and hurt lady Clari."

How sad, she thought. She never had a sibling before hence she was unfamiliar with such thing, protecting a brother or a sister at cost of your own life. She was aware that Clari and Clion were withdrawn from the world because of the painful childhood they were subjected to, she thought it was just because they were illegitimate children, but it wasn't mentioned in the novel that they went through something terrifying.

"I don't understand why you're saying this to me. I don't even care about those children that you serve," she stated. Isn't she too unworthy to be able to know about the heartbreaking past of the two kids she would likely never talk to again?

"We would be able to accept indifference rather than hatred, Mi'lady," Craye had a bit of a smile on his lips, a rare sight indeed. "The eyes of society would never see illegitimate children as they see the others. They were deprived of equality the moment they were conceived whether it was beyond their control or not."

"We just wish that they live a life without the criticism of gazes, even without any gazes at them at all. So, please understand Lady Clari. She's just a wounded child afraid of losing the only light she had ever wished to protect."

With that, Craye stood up and bade his goodbyes before leaving her alone, thinking about the words he said.

She scoffed to herself. Hatred, he says? How could she do such a thing? She was once just like that little girl.

A girl who had only one friend she could name, a girl who was also afraid to lose that one person though she would never say it out loud.

Maybe they were just like them. Clion is a child who wished for more people to talk to, more people to understand him. And Clari is a child who is afraid to lose the only precious thing she vowed to be with, afraid to be alone just like she was.

She couldn't blame the little boy for wanting to have friends. She had Lucy. The girl who was abused by her family and sought companions everywhere she went in an attempt to never be helpless again. If Avy understood the only friend she had all her life, why would it be hard for her to understand a child?

"What are you thinking about?"

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard Ares' voice. She looked at her left and saw the black cat sitting on the vacant chair, looking at her as if analyzing her featured.

'Things.' she responded and avoided his prying eyes.

"By the way. I think the little girl just died."

Avy's brows raised in confusion, "What do you mean?" she asked out loud.

"The boy's sister. She fell off the stairs of the basement. She's not making any sound now."

Avy snapped her head back to look at him. "What the fuck?!"

"Language-"

Avy didn't even let him finish his sentence and just ran off in a hurry. She quickly went to Clerivan and Mariel.

"Mi'lady? What's wrong?" Mariel asked when she saw her dashing as if her life depended on it.

"The basement."

"Pardon?"

"Lead me to this house's basement!!" she yelled, causing the maid to flinch but nevertheless, moved.

Clerivan, who saw her having a hard time running properly because of the heels that she was wearing, quickly hoisted her up and carried her with him to make her life a lot easier.

She was thinking of so many things while they were on their way to the basement. She knew how Ares could joke about life and death as if it was a normal topic he would have any other day, but he is not the type to lie about such things just to have some entertainment going on. And it was completely random, why would he suddenly come up with a story if he valued his freedom?

They came across a servant of the estate along the way who lead them to where Avy told him to although hesitantly in fear of offending the noble lady. The servants who saw them hurrying somewhere just stared at them in curiosity and they passed by them but didn't put any more attention and just went back to their work.

When they arrived at the door of the basement, Mariel tried to open it without her being asked but she just looked at her and spoke. "It is locked, Mi'lady."

"Then destroy the knob," she commanded, she was already on her feet and Clerivan unsheathed his sword to heed her order.

"L-lady Avana, this-" the servant's trembling voice was cut off by Avy's sharp glare, he made himself shut up to no cause anything to upset the girl.

"Please stand back," Mariel stood in front of her protectively in case she gets hurt from the debris that might fly off the door that was forcefully opened by the knight.

Without Clerivan breaking a sweat, the knob was sliced cleanly with just one swift swing of his blade. It made almost no sound and the knight was able to open the door afterward without a hitch.

His face after staring at the end of the stairs for a second looked somewhat mortified as if he saw something unusual. Seeing the expression that his Knight had confirmed Ares' words much to Avy's horror.

She was about to rush inside but he was immediately stopped by Clerivan.

"It is dark, Mi'lady, you might miss a step," he pointed out.

It was indeed almost pitch black and only a slow flicker of fun light could be seen inside that could barely be counted as illumination. It was amazing that the knight even saw the girl.

"I-I am a flamma type, Sir. I can guide you down..." the servant who they brought with them commented politely on the side. Avy said no more and just gestured for him to go first which he did without any complaints.

Avy was already fidgety while Clerivan escorted her down so that she wouldn't roll to her death, Mariel followed them behind. And when they reached the middle of the stairs, the servant gasped in disbelief at the scene that the fireball he had in his hand allowed him to see. the picture that the darkness has been hiding.

"My lady!!" he shouted in horror and immediately ran down to aid the unconscious girl who was lying at the foot of the stairs. Her arms were scratched and the side of her forehead was bleeding.

That afternoon reminded her of when she was taken hostage in Gehenna. There was chaos.

~~~

Everything went by in a blur, and the next thing Avy knew, she was sitting on the couch inside Clari's room, a child sleeping on her lap with their hands clasped together.

"Are you adopting that child too?"

Ares in his cat form sat next to her and she could hear him laughing annoyingly inside her head, and for the nth time made her think of kicking him to kingdom come.

'I'll hit you,' she threatened him, still, her face sported the look of exhaustion combined with exasperation that she couldn't afford to show that she was annoyed. On top of that, her legs were numb and she wanted to pee. She needed concentration to survive another five minutes not moving.

Clerivan and Mariel were not with her since Craye did not allow anyone other than Clari's personal maids and the healing mages to enter the room. And how she found herself in there too? Things happened.

Perhaps it happened so fast. Clerivan carried Clari and the servant was quick to inform the head butler about what happened who then summoned the head maid to look into the little lady's condition.

Of course, Clion heard of the situation and rushed to his sister's room where he found Avy and company still around.

Avy then had a child silently crying next to her while they watched the head maid lead the healing process. She had no choice but to speak assurance and comfort to him to make him stop, and he did stop, better words, he passed out with his head on her lap rendering her movements.

"You must be uncomfortable, My lady." a calming voice broke the silence, the healing didn't take long as she expected and the head maid walked towards her with a gentle expression on her face. She was an older woman in her fifties, her dark hair decorated with silver strands due to old age.

"Very much," she answered with a nod, her voice lacking its usual crudeness.

"I apologize for the wait. Please allow the servants to take the young master to his bedroom." the maid bowed before gesturing to the male worker clad in butler uniform to get the sleeping boy.

The butler carried Clion out of the room along with the maids who assisted with the healing, leaving only Avy with the head maid.

"I'd like to thank your highness first before everything." the older lady once again lowered her head to the younger girl before sitting on the single couch across from where the other was seated. "Do pardon me for the late introductions. My name is Karmina Trevan."

A soft smile was plastered on the old maid's face as she looked at the lady. "I've heard from the servants that Mi'lady was the one who found our lady Clari inside the basement. If it wasn't for you, the danged would've been greater."

Avy felt like she was being examined by the gentle eyes that focused on her, but still, she answered with equal confidence.

"Though it is somewhat unbelievable. It was my cat who informed me," she stated, she didn't have any other excuses on how she was able to know the girl's whereabouts when even her own maid thought she was sleeping inside her room.

Karmina had surprise visible on her face and turned to the black cat next to Avy with the same curiosity. "Oh my, that is indeed unusual."

"He is quite special," she concluded and looked at the sleeping figure resting on the bed. "I assume it went well?"

The maid nodded with a relieved smile. "Fortunately, although we will have to rely on lady Clari's own to get stronger and be back on her feet. You may already know this, but children and weakened elders are more sensitive and are advised to avoid other creatures' magic enter their system. Healing can only do this much lest it shatters the lady's core and enable her from manifesting." the old lady's face showed a hint of worry.

"I'm afraid that she is refusing her magic thus stopping her from experiencing signs of awakening. She must still be blaming herself for the incident two years ago," she said causing Avy to look at her in wonder.

"How is it related to her manifestation?" she asked and the maid had the face of realization before again speaking.

"I guess Sir Craye did not tell you the full story."

Avy nodded and Karmina took as a sign for her to continue.

"The day that the two children went outside the estate to entertain the curiosity downtown, his grace put a spell on them to avoid attention from those who wish to bring them harm. And of course, it gave us the sense of security knowing it would lessen possible danger but they were still accompanied by skilled knights," she narrated reminiscing the memories of the fateful day that no one inside the Harrington duchy could ever forget.

"But lady Clari's magic manifested that day."

The revelation made Avy listen more attentively, it was a detail that the butler left out when he told her the story.

"It broke the spell that protected her from the eyes of the crowd, and it also affected her brother who she was in contact with the whole time. Lady Clari was convinced that it was her fault they were captured by the kidnappers who had been plotting to abduct them for a long time. She also blamed herself when the young master refused to speak after that encounter."

The old maid's eyes glistened with unshed tears that even after two years never once dried.

Avy wondered how much more stories were left untold. Stories of those irrelevant characters that the readers never knew of.

~~~

Avy had convinced herself that after she woke up inside the novel, she became a magnet of mischief without her consent. No matter where she goes or who she was with, alone or not, she attracted scenarios where she had to be involved.

She thought maybe it was because she didn't have to be with the main characters to experience such things. She realized that even unimportant figures have their own stories to tell, and she becomes another character in their perspective once she steps inside their life. She learned to accept. Well, she didn't have a choice.

Just like how she once again found herself sitting on a comfortable chair next to the bed where the former unconscious lady was sleeping, feeling nowhere near cozy. The said young girl is now awake the sharp glare that Avy thought was permanent was nowhere to be seen, just a soft expression as she assured that she was fine.

"I'm okay! Really," she said with a smile to the boy who was holding her hand with worried eyes boring onto her head.

Avy watched them almost looking entertained. Clion didn't even need to write his thoughts because Clari was able to easily decipher what he wanted to convey. She thought it must be natural twin telepathy.

"But Clion?" the girl paused for a moment, hesitating. "Can you leave for a moment?" she finally said.

Although the little boy looked somewhat disappointed, he just nodded his head in understanding and prepared to leave the room. Avy of course, stood up to go with him. She was just present because of the boy after all.

"N-not you." she was stopped by Clari's call that was sudden and almost sounded panicked. She halted and looked back and saw the girl staring straight at her. She glanced at Clion and told him to go ahead before sitting back down, facing Clari.

"Thank you."

Avy didn't have a chance to speak first because the little girl died the honor before she could even utter a word. She was surprised at how easy she said thank you knowing the fact that she was a tough child based on how she behaved the past few days they interacted with each other.

"Is that all?" she asked even though she wasn't really expecting her to say more. And that's exactly what Clari did.

The girl just nodded her head in response without making eye contact.

"I see. I guess you're still angry at me. I accept the thanks, lady Clari." Avy gave her a soft chuckle so as to not make the atmosphere bad, she also wanted to end the conversation to avoid any awkwardness between them, hence she stood up to leave.

But she was once again stopped by the girl.

"I-I'm not angry!" she said drawing the amusement of the older girl who sat back at her chair once again.

"Clion would be upset if I disliked you," Clari added lowering her head as her voice became quieter with every word that came out of her mouth.

"Then how about you stop living for Clion?"

Clari paused and raised her head seemingly confused, she stared at Avy like she did not understand what she just said.

"Why does it matter if Clion gets upset? You should dislike who you want to dislike. You should get angry at me if that's what you feel," Avy leaned back and crossed her arms, waiting for the girl's answer.

"B-but I don't live for him," Clari reasoned but Avy only responded with a snort.

"All the things you do, you do it with Clion in mind. I heard you went down to the basement to get the toys that he liked. You don't hate me because he would be upset if you did. You didn't want me to get close because I will depart eventually and leave Clion sad. You always think of him first before you do anything."

Avy watched how the little lady's lips quivered while listening to her talk, and of course, it didn't take time before she exploded.

"Because he is all I have!" she shouted at her, her eyes slowly flooded with tears that continuously ran down her cheeks. "I know we have people who care for us, but they won't understand us like how we understand each other. We're both bastard children who are unwelcomed everywhere." Clari tried to wipe away the tears but they just kept flowing nonstop.

"Brother said he will be with us forever but I know he would leave, you will take him away because you like him. I heard if he entered your family, he wouldn't be able to have a say over us because he will no longer be a Harrington. So I only have Clion and he only has me, why do you care if I live for him?"

It must've been all the pent-up frustration that she has been keeping for years, thus she couldn't control her emotions and ended up saying more than she should have.

"Clion doesn't want you to live for him. He's aware of everything you've done and you're doing for him, and it's only leaving him things to be guilty of." Avy's tone was almost soft, but she still kept her composure, of course, they only need one emotional person in the room and the role was already occupied by the weeping child in front of her.

"But it was my fault why Clion-"

"No. It's not your fault. And he doesn't blame you, have you any right to blame yourself?" Avy said harshly although she didn't want to sound antagonistic. "Sacrificing your happiness to protect someone else's is like dying in their stead. You're just leaving a wound that would take forever to heal. Guilt is a thing that exists on both sides."

"If you're feeling guilty because of what happened, Clion is also guilty for everything that's happening."

Clari stopped crying. Only her sniffles could be heard in the room.

"Grovelling over something you can no longer change only applies for a short period of time. Stand up now, the world won't wait for you to heal."

Avy felt peace because of the silence that followed after but before she could even take a breather, Clari cried again. But louder this time.

"I'M SORRY!! I'M NOT ANGRY AT YOU!!" she shouted, hands wiping away her tears as she wailed like a baby. "PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!!"

"I don't hate-"

"Waaahhhh!!"

Avy really was expecting her ears to bleed because of how loud Clari was screaming. She came closer in an attempt to soothe her but God knows how she's not built for anything like soft comfort.

"H-hey. Stop crying. They would think I picked a fight with a child-"

It didn't take long before the servants along with her own and Clion entered the room, they must've heard the girl's cries behind the door. But what they found inside was a rare sight they never expected.

Avy was seated on the bed, wiping Clari's tears using the blanket. At the end of the day, she still couldn't handle children.

That night, the only lady of the Harrington house manifested her magic, along with the respect of the duchy's servant to the lady who they thought would never be a good combination with the Harrington children.

Just like how fire and water contradicted each other, they seemed to be a perfect fit.



*****





I'm sorry for updating so late!! My laptop broke almost two weeks ago and my mom still doesn't knowT-T

As an apology, I'm giving you two chapters in a row, I also made this chapter longer than usual.

Another thing, I'm thinking of posting the one-shots I wrote but I don't know if I should post them here on Wattpad or if I should create a separate page dedicated for them only. What do you guys think?