In the bustling heart of Raven's Crest village stood a vibrant square where children played. Timber-framed houses with wooden shutters surrounded the lively gathering spot. The cobbled ground bore the scuff marks of countless footsteps, indicating the constant flow of people through the square. 

A central well, surrounded by villagers fetching water for their daily needs, served as a focal point. Mothers with babes in their arms chatted and gossiped, while elders sat on wooden benches nearby. 

The makeshift playground, fashioned from repurposed barrels and discarded wooden cartwheels, became a haven for the children. The air resonated with their laughter as they played games of tag and engaged in playful sword fights. 

Market stalls displayed an array of goods, from fresh produce to hand crafted trinkets, while shops selling vegetables and other groceries lined the square's perimeter. The scent of sizzling meats from a nearby tavern filled the air, enticing the villagers. 

The children's laughter intermingled with the sounds of traders haggling, and the distant clanging of a blacksmith's hammer added a rhythmic undertone to the lively atmosphere.

"It had been a few days since Aunt Eleanor and her family left for their territory. Today, Vina dragged me outside the castle to play," Tia sighed inwardly as they strolled through the bustling square.

Vina (8) and Tia (5), clad in their simple gowns, scanned the area for their regular gang of friends amidst the throngs of villagers.

“Vina, Tia, over here!” Ron's voice resounded from the cluster of kids gathered for play.

Excitedly, Vina and Tia hastened towards their friends.

"Hi, everyone! Were we late?" Vina greeted cheerfully.

"Yes, we were waiting for a long time, you know," Olivia responded, playfully blaming Vina.

Olivia, an 8-year-old with lustrous black locks, hazel eyes, and a smattering of freckles on her cheeks, adorned herself in attire of earthy hues.

"Sorry, sorry," Vina apologized sheepishly, though her expression didn't quite reflect her sincerity.

"Come on, Olivia. We just got here," Ron exposed her.

Tia thought, recalling his impression of his playmates. ‘Ron, who is 8, is the most popular and handsome boy in his age group in the village.

‘While Vina and Sera are the most beautiful in the village, disregarding their age group. 

‘Other than them, I only know Aunt Eleanor, who seemed more beautiful than Mother. 

‘If I were to compare future Ron with Uncle Rolland, Rolland wins.

‘But I don’t like Ron,’ Tia frowned.

"Come on, Ron, play along for once, will you?" Olivia pouted playfully.

‘Olivia is a mischievous girl who always likes to play pranks and tease others.’

"Yes, Ron, you don't have to always protect her just because you like her," interjected Rose.

"Yes, yes," supported Lilian.

‘Rose and Lilian are twin sisters who, though identical and pretty, aren't quite as lovely as Vina.

‘Interestingly, all the children I've seen so far, including us, have black hair and black eyes. There are very few with different hair colors. Aunt Eleanor and her family are some of them. I wonder how genetics work here.’

"Wh-what, wh-who likes her?" Ron stammered, his cheeks turning pink.

"Yeah, right. We all know who," teased Luke, a slim 9-year-old.

"Shut up, Luke," Ron retorted.

"Ha ha ha," everyone laughed, except for Vina, who didn't understand, had a confused expression on her face.

‘Yes, I don’t like Ron because he likes Vina. It seems he has a crush on my sister. 

‘At first, I felt weird seeing how well he gets along with Vina. But soon I realized what this feeling is. I'm jealous. 

‘I know I shouldn't be, but I can't help it. I was surprised that I'm capable of feeling jealous towards someone.

‘Vina is yet to understand the feelings of love and liking. On the other hand, the other children seem to be more mature in this aspect. Maybe Vina is just dense.’

"What shall we play today?" asked Tyke, a plump 9-year-old.

“Let’s play heroes!” Ron chimed in excitedly.

“Not again, Ron. We've played it for the nth time,” Luke rejected.

“Yeah Ron, you like heroes too much.” added ember.

Ron rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.

"Shall we play hide and seek?" Ember suggested.

‘You know, I was very excited at first when my mother gave permission to go out to play. But it soon became tiring. It’s because I am reduced to a babysitter to these naughty little monkeys rather than a playmate.’

"We always play that; it's already boring. Shall we go to the forest for an adventure?" suggested Olivia.

‘See, this is what I mean. At the first chance they get, they become curious little fireflies ready to jump into the flames.’ Tia sighed inwardly, feeling exasperated.

"But it's dangerous to go to the forest. The guards won't allow us," said Ember.

"Why don't we sneak out, then?" suggested Vina.

‘Last time, to foil their plans, I had thrown some stones at the guards to get their attention. What should I do now? Huh, what’s happening there…’ Tia's attention was grabbed by something he saw.

“Yeah. You remember how we were caught by the guard uncle when we tried to sneak out. We received a long scolding. My mother was furious and beat me up,” said Tyke.

“Yeah, we got an earful. That guard was even sleeping. How did he wake up and find us?” added Luke, feeling frustrated.

“Then how do we do it?” Ember asked.

“This time, why don’t we use Tia as a distraction?” proposed Olivia.

“Huh! Where is Tia?” Vina, who checked for Tia, found her missing from her side.

While they searched for Tia, suddenly, they heard her shout, "Hey, stop it, Julian. Why are you bullying her?"

They spotted Tia attempting to shield Lily, a 5-year-old girl in worn-out but clean clothes. 

Facing Tia was Julian, a 9-year-old boy with a handsome face, black hair, and eyes. Dressed in clothes mimicking noble styles, Julian exuded an air of arrogance.

Behind him were two other children, seemingly his minions.

While the gang debated their next game, Tia noticed Julian bullying Lily and rushed to intervene.

"Why do you care? Get lost, or else I will also beat you," threatened Julian.

"It's not good to bully others weaker than you. If you want to bully someone, find someone your own size," Tia replied angrily.

In response, Julian arrogantly threw a punch at Tia, “Who do you think you are to tell me what to do?”

‘Damn, my body is still too small to fight him.’ Anticipating the blow, Tia closed his eyes and crossed his arms to protect his face, but the punch never landed.

Opening his eyes, Tia saw Vina, who had caught Julian's punch and now stood protectively before him.

"What do you think you're doing to my sister?" Vina glared at Julian angrily.

"Let go, bitch!" Julian struggled to retract his hand, but Vina held firm. 

In retaliation, Julian kicked Vina in the stomach, forcing her to release her grip as she fell down.

"Sister!" Tia shouted, worried, as he tried to help her. "Are you alright?"

The other children rushed towards them.

"Go back a little, Tia. Luke, take care of my sister for a bit," Vina instructed, leaving Tia with Luke and the gang. 

She clenched her fists, lunged at Julian, and landed a punch. Julian's minions attempted to join the fight, but Tyke and Ron intervened.

The square descended into chaos as onlookers gathered. Julian and Vina soon began to bleed. Witnessing the brawl, Ember exclaimed, "I saw Aunt Sera nearby before. I'll go get her," and darted off to find Sera.

“Hey, that’s enough, kids. Stop fighting.” Amidst the commotion, some adults tried to intervene and stop the fight.

*******

Near the square is a luxurious clothes store, inside of which a group of women are gossiping. At the center of the group is Isabella, a plump 28-year-old woman dressed in a flashy outfit. She has chestnut brown hair, hazel eyes, and her hair is intricately braided. The women surrounding her seem to be fawning over her.

“Whoa Bella, your clothes really suit you. Just like your personality,” someone praised.

“Yes, indeed. How did you get that necklace?” another added.

“All of these were bought by my husband during his travels. He found some merchants who sold these high-class items. Others won’t be able to afford them. They're only accessible to those of us who are rich and noble,” Isabella flaunted joyfully.

“Oh, I'm so jealous. Could you help us get some?”

“It might be difficult, but my husband will soon be acquiring some luxurious goods. I'll make sure to inform you first when that happens.”

“Thanks Isabella.”

They continued to chat about various topics.

“Yes, come to think of it, Sera and Emma are trying to open trade routes with other territories into the village. Then we could get better goods than what is available in the village currently. It’s so good to have someone who is truly doing some good for the village.” One of the new members in the group spoke.

She is interrupted by a woman who is beside her by poking her to stop. Confused, she came out of her thoughts to see Isabella with an annoying expression.

“Hump! What’s so great about it? She is doing it just to get praises from others. And you, what was your name again?” Isabella asked, irritated.

“Yes.” The woman who spoke is a bit frightened.

Just when she was about to reply, someone came running while panting. 

“Bella”

“What happened? Why are you in such a rush?” Isabella inquired urgently.

“Your son, Julian, is getting beaten at the square.”

“What?” Isabella exclaimed loudly, causing damage to the hearing of those around her who closed their ears.

“Get out. Give way.” Isabella soon ran, pushing away the women surrounding her with a speed that seemed unbelievable given her plump physique, as her body fat jiggled.

Seeing her go, the previous woman asked, “What happened? Why did she suddenly become so angry? What did I say?”

The woman sighed and explained, “You've newly joined our group, so you might not be so aware. But Isabella hates Sera. If you praise her in front of her, she'll get angry.”

“Why didn’t you say it before?” she questioned worriedly.

“Hahaha. We forgot. But don’t worry. Next time, just scold Sera for a bit and praise her. It's very easy to handle her.”

“Haa….” She heaved a sigh of relief.

“But why doesn't she like Sera? She's such a good person.”

“About that, let’s head out to the square first. We'll explain it to you on the way. I wonder what happened.”

“Yes, let’s go.” Everyone agreed.

Copyright © [2024] [The Rainy Imp]. All rights reserved. 

*****

At the same time, near the square, Sera, along with her assistant Emma and guard Captain Alaric, is inspecting the village to get an idea regarding the sewage system.

“Sera, is it really alright to take up so many projects at a time?” Alaric expressed his doubt.

Sera lives a simple life, very friendly and easy to get along with, and she doesn’t care much for formalities. As a result, all the villagers speak casually to her and address her directly without any honorifics, despite her noble status as a baroness. Only during official meetings do the people around her refer to her with courtesy, as it would reflect poorly upon their village.

“What do you mean?” Sera asked.

“You know, you are trying to take on a lot of development projects. And even though we guards formed a group and plundered the bandits and thieves who previously used the territory as their base, the amount of money we looted from them might not cover the costs we might incur with the development projects. Not to mention, we are already indebted to Countess Ravenna as she paid off the Ravencrest household debts on your behalf.”

Listening to Alaric, Sera and Emma exchanged glances with each other and started to laugh.

“Hahaha.”

“Why are you laughing?”

“No, it’s nothing. We are just amused,” Emma started to explain.

“To begin with, we never had any debt to pay Countess Ravenna.”

“Huh, how can that be? It was officially announced, right?”

“Yes, but we have already paid it off.”

“You see, when the Ravencrest family was alive, they had hoarded a lot of wealth they had accumulated for a long time in a secret chamber in the castle.”

“What? So all that time, they lied that the territory was in debt?” Alaric was astonished.

“No, they really incurred a lot of debts. But they only used it as an excuse to squeeze more money from the people and to avoid paying off their debtors.”

“Tch,” Alaric clicked his tongue.

“During that time, I found their secret chamber where they hid the wealth. But I did not reveal it to the public,” Sera continued.

“That is because I was still new to my status as a baroness, and there might have been many people who might want to take advantage of it. So, I asked the Countess to help me pay off their debts using the hidden wealth on my behalf in her name. As a result, most of them did not dare to swindle us. Even if they did, they did not seem to go overboard. And she had also sent someone from her side to settle the debts for me as I did not have any personnel under me.

“The amount we secured by plundering the bandits and thieves is only icing on the top. It is an excuse to explain how we are able to get our hands on the money we are spending.”

“Not to mention, Sera rejected the luxuries of a noble,” Emma interjected.

“The money we have to spend for castle maintenance and parties for nobles is practically nothing when compared to how extravagantly the previous Ravencrest family lived.

“So, we have a surplus for the development projects. But this should be the last time we might be able to spend so much without any worry like this. Because if we keep this up, even that wealth might not be sufficient.”

“Yes, I know, very soon, all the projects we have started will come to fruition, and we will finally be able to gain some returns,” Sera said.

“Man, you ladies are terrific at hiding things like this,” Alaric was in awe of their tactfulness.

“Aunt Sera, Aunt Sera,” Ember’s shouting interrupted their conversation.

Seeing the little girl panting as she ran to them, Sera asked, “What happened, Ember? Why are you in such a rush?”

“Vina, ha, Vina is fighting at the square.”

“Vina?” Sera asked in surprise. “Take me there.”

“Okay.”

Soon all three of them followed Ember to the square.

******

By the time Sera reached the square, it was already surrounded by a crowd of people witnessing Isabella's cries.

Sera ignored the commotion and pushed through the crowd to the center, searching for Vina and Tia.

Ron, Tyke, and Julian's minions looked a bit beaten, but they weren't bleeding.

She found Vina, her gown torn in places, her hair disheveled, with scratches on her palms and ankles from being rubbed against the ground. Blood had spread across her dress, and her lips were cut, causing them to bleed.

Seeing Vina in such a state ignited anger and a surge of killing intent in Sera's heart. Her eyes became cold and sharp, her mind going blank as she momentarily lost her reasoning.

---

Copyright © [2024] [The Rainy Imp]. All rights reserved. 

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