A girl watched the royal palace opposite to her, staring at it with tears in her eyes. Her eyes looked numb as she barely held back her tears while continuing to watch the royal palace. She had come here to serve the royal family.
She remembered her past where she was happily playing with her family, then heard that her family had died for unknown reasons. She remembered when everyone in her house started to hate her and her uncle began taking over all her property and authority through force.
She had no choice and gave everything to them, thinking that her uncle would let her live in their house. He did let her live with them, but they didn't even notice her—like she didn't exist.
No one gave her food, no one asked about her, no one even spoke with her, and she had no choice but to start doing everything on her own. She made food and ate it, but the next moment she became unconscious and could barely wake up.
Someone came to her and saw Nil. A woman found her on the ground, checked what had happened, and learned that she had been poisoned.
"Young miss, what happened to you? Who poisoned you?"
The woman asked with pity and sadness, slapping her cheek. Nil didn't even feel anything, but the woman somehow started to remove the poison. It didn't take her long to remove all of it.
Nil woke two days later and saw the ceiling above her—it wasn't her room's ceiling. She stood up and looked around, understanding that this wasn't her room.
A few moments later, the woman came to her room and saw that Nil was awake.
"Thank goodness, you're awake." The woman was relieved that Nil had finally woken up.
Nil stared at her with surprise and started crying. The woman went to her, pulled her to her chest, and patted her head. "There, there..."
Hours later, Nil calmed herself down and started eating her food like a wild animal.
"What are you doing, young miss? Eat slowly or it will get stuck."
The woman completed her sentence and Nil started coughing.
"Cough... cough... Water..."
The woman sighed after seeing this. She created water out of nowhere, put it in a glass, and gave it to Nil, who drank the water like lightning.
Nil sighed in relief and finished her food.
"What happened to you, young miss? Why were you on the ground, and why are you eating food like you haven't had any for months?"
Nil went silent and put her head down, staring at the bed as she started crying again. Her tears began dropping onto the bed.
The woman saw this, put her hand on Nil's shoulder, turned her head toward her, and watched her weeping and sobbing. It broke the woman's heart.
This time the woman asked her more politely, "You can tell me. I'm your best aunt, right?"
Nil looked at her aunt and stared at her for a few minutes, starting to fear what would happen if she told her about her condition. What if she did the same thing that others had done to her?
Nil stared at her aunt more and more, but she saw that the aunt looked worried for her and had even given her food—something she had rarely gotten from others after her parents died.
Nil studied her aunt and spilled everything she had gone through. "They all abandoned me, Aunt. And my uncle is trying to send me to the royal palace to serve the third prince, who has killed maids. I heard rumors about him—that he kills maids. I saw him at the second prince's birthday, and he was beating his own maid. Everyone saw that, but they all ignored him."
The woman's eye twitched as she studied Nil. She put her hand on her chin and looked at her with soft eyes. "Yes, you don't need to go there. You are a count family's daughter and have an infinite future. I know you will shine one day, and the world will recognize you, love you, and want to meet you."
Nil's eyes brightened with excitement, and she looked at the woman with a happy face, hugging her immediately. She was so happy that someone hadn't abandoned her after hearing her story. She hid her head on the woman's shoulder.
"Thank you, Aunt. I know I can trust you. And I know you believe in me."
Nil said with a sobbing voice, but the woman listened and pulled her away from her body, making her sit down. Nil was shocked by her reaction and looked at her with confusion.
"You have to control yourself, young miss. And I'm not finished yet."
Nil started to notice that her aunt had changed a little but didn't mind the small change. She had seen worse than this. Nil had felt alone in her own house with 20 or more people around her, all of them avoiding her, but her aunt spoke to her and even looked worried about her. So she didn't mind her aunt being a little rude.
Maybe aunt doesn't like being touched by others, Nil thought and started to smile, forgetting about the woman's rudeness. She wanted to hear what she had to say.
"Young miss, listen to me well. This can change your life, so you have to decide your future, and you will be able to make a good decision."
The woman smiled while studying Nil's reaction. "What is it, Aunt?"
The woman's smile brightened with happiness, and she put her hand to Nil's chin. Tears came to her eyes and she looked numb. Nil watched her tears and became more confused, starting to look worried. Before Nil could ask, her aunt said:
"You have to leave this house, young miss. Or you will be treated like this forever, and you won't be able to achieve anything around here."
The woman started sobbing and continued, "I don't want to send you away, but you're not safe here, young miss. Sob... Please, young miss, run away from here."
Nil watched her worried look and tears falling. "But Aunt..."
Before she could say her words, the woman put her hand on her mouth. Still sobbing, she said again:
"And young miss, I have never seen a beautiful lady like you in my entire life, and you may be liked or adored by the third prince there. You will achieve everything there and show your uncle that you are not worthless. So please, young miss."
Nil's head went down. She also knew that if she stayed here, she couldn't do anything and would die without knowing what happened to her. But what if the third prince did something worse than what her family was doing?
"But Aunt, still..."
"Don't say no. Or you will never achieve anything. Don't you want to protect the poor around you and save them from cruelty? I believe in you, and I know that you will save the world from cruelty and give this world a new view."
Nil's head went down as she thought, Aunt is right. Yeah, I'll save everyone. I won't let others feel like me.
Her eyes started to look determined as she studied her aunt, who was still sobbing. She is so kind. I know she has always loved me.
The woman continued studying and thinking, Say yes, you idiot. What cruelty will you change? Just leave, you idiot. We don't need an orphan like you anymore in our count house. Say yes, and I will be rewarded by lord count. And die at his hands, and no one will doubt your connection to us. Hehehe.
Nil watched her sob, and her heart started to ache. She finally said, "Okay, Aunt. I will follow your words."
The woman's eyes went wide, and she felt happy inside while crying outside. Nil watched this, feeling warm inside and out.
She cares about me so much.
Nil thought, and a smile came to her face as she continued watching her aunt with an uneasy feeling. But she could do nothing about her uneasiness, so she put her hand on her chest. She wanted to cry but controlled herself.