Chapter 0: Prologue - Throwing Family into the Flames
My family, the Rizhe clan, rules the vast land of the Kotts. You could call it "Kottland", but that name is weird; the true (native, and normal even in other languages) name of it is Kottrivi. However, I'm but a minor "princess", if you can even call me that. Due to my father's rebelliousness, his family is generally disliked by all the other royals. An example of that is how, right now, he's taking me on a walk through the woods alone when we are explicitly told not to do this without some kind of protection, like from a body guard.
I was 14 at this time, yet I was still obsessed with rabbits. I kept looking around for rabbits while my father kept fidgeting with his golden chain-bracelet several meters behind me. Eventually, I spotted a rabbit and chased it. It tried to go into the bushes, but I went into the bushes too, just slower to avoid getting scratched.
When I came out on the other side, the rabbit jumped into the arms of another kid. He looked 13? and he wore torn rags for a giant shirt and dirty shorts, with his shoes being wool with dirt embedded in them. I could also barely tell he was a boy due to how slender he was, as well as his pony tail and strangely pretty face. Also strangely, his hair was mainly brown but it also had red colors on the lower parts, red like blood or poppies.
In the middle of a different creepy observation about the boy's looks, he suddenly said "You scared the rabbit. Please treat it well, it's our neighbor."
"Huh? 'Neighbor'?"
"It lives next to us." He started sounding annoyed with me, but his face didn't change at all. "Unless you plan to eat it, you should be nice to it." I was surprised he condoned eating animals that he treats well. "Same with people."
"WHAT? You - " A hand was placed on my back - "WAHHH!! DAD! What the hell-"
"Language, Shiyin. You can't afford to say 'hell' like I can. Plus, your manners - right in front of someone else you've never met before? You're going to suck at gaining a reputation." My dad then looked at the boy. "Howdy partner!" Oh God, not the fake Talma accent...
The boy responded "...Howdy pardner," in the most dead-spirited way possible. I could see him glistening. That beautiful skin shone under the light of the tre- Wait, he's sweating -
"Wah-haha! Ah, uh, huh... Hmmmm.... Hrmmmm-----..." My dad took off his golden chain-bracelet, which you could see had a snake's head with the eyes being small green gems; all the while he eyeing the boy. "What's your name, kid?"
"My name... ...s Nousola."
"Heya, 'Nusoula'. What do you think of... taking this bracelet for me?"
I myself gasped. Why would you give that bracelet, kept solely for royals, to a stranger? But then again, considering who my father is...
Nousola stared on, and this time he changed his expression with his eyes widening. I could just barely hear him mumble: "N...aray....-a ri...ng."
My father grinned. "I see." He then tossed the ring to Nousola. "If you're... poor, then try selling it. Or, within the next month, try posing as a member of the Rizhe. But don't join and become like them, you know?"
Nousola, having caught the bracelet, looked at it. Then he looked at my father, and his expression became confused. "Does this ring have no significance to you, a Rizhe?"
"Pffft- me, a Rizhe - gimme a br-" He coughed from laughter. "No... No, not at all. Not one bit. In fact I was gonna do this anyway. OH, my name is Tanaik. This is my daughter, na----med..." He glared at me to say my own name.
"My name is Shiyin."
"Ha! I hope it was nice for you two to meet each other. Also....." He walked over to Nousola. Then he kneeled and whispered something into his ear. Nousola stared at me blankly.
I forgot his beauty and felt more uncomfortable about how my father gave up the most valuable thing he's ever touched or seen in his life. I stared back at Nousola, and when my father backed away from him while grinning, I held out my hand. I anticipated he would do the normal thing and shake my hand.
No, that would be normal. Instead he grabbed my wrist and tossed it up and down! What the hell!
"Nusoula! Hey! Calm down!" My father grabbed both of our arms. "So......... to shake people's hands, Nusoula, you hold them by the hand, and be a little more gentle." He motioned this using our own hands. "Yeah?"
Nousola then, slowly, but I guess more normally, shook my hand. I wondered why he was staring downward rather than at me in the eyes. Are my eyes not pretty enough? Huh? Nousola, do you think I'm some kind of Medusa from Cocytus? HUH? WOULD IT KILL YOU TO LOOK ME IN THE EYES? But then I realized - the hand he was shaking was where I wore my golden chain-bracelet. Darn, he was paying attention to the fact I was a Rizhe! Hypothetically if he were to marry me it wouldn't be for me, but for my money, which would make me the 578th? member of my family to have a spouse with this situation. But besides the point -
I could vaguely hear, "Thank you both... for the Naray... ring. For ever - ---- --ing."
My father led me out of those woods. He told me it was getting dark, which I could see. My own golden chain-bracelet started to shine just a little bit in the growing shade. I didn't like looking behind me while running or walking because it hurt my neck, but when I looked back this time, I saw "Nousola" putting on the bracelet given to him. It glowed on his left wrist, and he looked at me directly in the eye.