He glanced in the direction of the voice and he saw a small girl that looked to be around the same age as him but could perhaps be a year older. Her scornful face held a pair of eyes that shone with hatred and disgust. He didn't know or understand why she was so aggressive towards him. He felt so helpless; all he wanted was for his mother to be treated.
"If I hear you call him father again, I will have your tongue." She growled viciously, spitting on the child’s face. "Get this dirty beggar out of here!" She yelled at the guards. The little girl harrumphed and went back in, ignoring the child as if he was trash that she couldn’t be bothered with. The child had an inkling that the arrogant girl must have seen him at the Manor’s gate and heard his words. He also believed that she recognised who he was hence, why she treated him so badly and coldly. But as he had never offended the girl before, the little child was truly puzzled by her behavior.
That day, he could only go back to his mother with empty hands. Since the Lei Manor wouldn't help him, the little child had to seek help elsewhere. He finally managed to receive assistance from a passing stranger who was kind enough to listen to him and had follow him to see his mother.
It was then, that the child came to know his mother had already passed away. The passerby helped him to bury his mother before hurrying away. The passerby did what he could, and the little child was grateful that he was even given the time of day despite his hideous looks and how much he was avoided due to the stench his body naturally oozed out.
The child stood in front of his mother's grave for five days. At that point, he hadn't eaten in days and become horrendously skinny to the point that his skeletal frame could be seen. He was already skinny enough to begin with and starving himself made matters worse. In addition, his feet were bruised and bloody from his long trek to the Manor. The wind was harsh against his tiny frame but it couldn’t blow him away for he was determined to guard his mother’s grave.
His four years old mind was finding it difficult to accept the fact that he was truly alone in the world. He couldn't even cry because he didn’t understand why his mother had to die, why his father didn't bother to send a physician to check on his mother when she didn't wake up. He also didn’t understand why they treated him an unwanted trash when he had gone to the Lei Manor.
Years later, the child would find out that the arrogant girl who treated him so horribly at the Lei Manor’s gate was the Young Miss of the Lei family—his half-sister.
Apparently, she wasn't alone at that time. His father, the General, the Mistress and the Lei family's beloved Young Master, his half-brother were there as well. Those people had simply watched the guard harassed him when he begged for help… watch as their daughter shooed him away like an animal. He would also find out that the day the Young Miss came across him at the Manor's gate wasn’t actually their first encounter.
The Lei family wanted to act like he didn't exist and the only reason why his father hadn't kill him was not because he felt a bit of kinship towards him but because he believed such a task wasn’t worthy of his efforts. The General considered it beneath his status. And perhaps, the ugly, useless boy might have some use for him to exploit.
The child used to think that he might be cursed like people had always said. And he started to believe it when his mother died. Over the years, he forgot what human companionship and warmth felt like. He had never known a moment of happiness and had forgotten what it felt like to smile or to laugh.
Just like that, twelve years went by. And now, he was in a situation he would have never envisioned for himself. How he got into his present situation still felt quite unreal to him.
The child, now a young boy of sixteen years, was inside the carriage meant for his elder half-sister. He also dressed exactly like her. The only difference in their outfits was the thick exquisite veil covering half of his face and revealing only his eyes and forehead.
The neglected and abandoned teenager began to wonder if he would be okay after agreeing to do what was asked of him. His sixteen-year-old self, although never accepted by the Lei family, still hoped for acknowledgement by taking such a burden upon himself. His simple wish was to be part of the Lei family at least once before he left the world.
But now, as he stared at the damaged carriage and the people who had laid in waiting for them, he realised how stupid and naïve he was. He should have known earlier that since he was cursed, there was no way such a wish could come true…He would never know what happiness felt like.
With the degree of blood lust he sensed from the ferocious group of people, he knew that they were going to create more havoc. Also he wasn’t stupid enough not to realise their purposes for drawing near him. It was obvious that he wouldn't escape unscathed from them. Most of the servants and guards who accompanied him were already dead.
He rubbed the ring on his finger, the only legacy he received from his mother twelve years ago, and solemnly whispered, “I've kept it safe, mother…It seems like I will be joining you sooner than expected. However, before that happens, I should give myself a name at least. I can't leave the world without even having that.”
He paused to think for a slight second. The teenager was calm despite the impending danger.
"Jiang sounds nice." A bitter smile graced his crooked and drooling lips hidden underneath the veil. “If I was to have a next life, I hope it will be like the meaning of my name, a life where I will be free like a river and drift to wherever I so desire.” His smile wasn’t beautiful or dazzling, but it was the first time he had smiled since he lost his only true family member, his mother.
Jiang proclaimed happily, “I have a name at last!” In that moment, Jiang felt really ecstatic, but his happiness was short lived because the day was to be his last… The assassins were inching closer and closer for no one else but him, and they didn’t come to give him cheese cakes or to make friends with him. They came for one thing and one thing only-his death. And they were going to get it no matter the cost.
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