TW: Mentions of sexual abuse and child grooming.
Read at your own risk.
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"Sir Thomas, why do I have to give you orders? My mom taught me to be respectful to my elders"
"That's because I am your servant, Lady Ciana - "
"I don't like that name"
"Lady Ciana? May I ask why?"
"I already have a name. Aina."
Thomas' eyes widened at the conviction in her little voice. There was a small fire igniting in her eyes as she fought for her name. A name that was given to her by her mother. An identity that she should've already forgotten when she entered the manor.
"I want you to call me Aina, Thomas, that is my first order" Aina smiles widely, the expression bright and innocent.
Thomas closed his eyes as the edges of his lips rose to a rare smile. "As you wish, Lady Aina" and he fully smiles upon hearing the victorious giggle that left her lips.
For a human, there could be only a few number of memories that they are able to recall in perfect detail. Memories that shaped their person, that held an impact on their life like no other memory did. Only the most significant memories could be recalled in perfect detail. Thomas' was the day he graduated from the Academy, his first meeting with Duke Evrian, the first instant he saw Lady Aina, and the first laugh he heard from her.
For the first 4 years that Aina lived at the Duchy, everything was perfect. The Duke and his children had a fairly harmonious relationship, and the two sisters' bond was so great Thomas didn't think anything or anyone could separate them.
That isn't always the case, however.
The estate had to learn the hard way, that even perfect days had an ending.
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Although the Duke never pressured Aina into studying like he did with his other children, he still wanted her to be educated as is normal for an aristocrat child. Duke Evrian valued education, and he expected the same for all of his children, though when it came to his youngest child, he was openly more lenient. He tends to forgive her easily, even when she broke a beloved vase of the previous Duchess when she was 7, and he was evident in his indulgence when he rarely ever punished Lady Aina. In the times that he did punish her, however, she was only given the lightest punishment of staying in her room for a day. But Aina was a child unlike her siblings. She rarely got into trouble as if she didn't want to inconvenience those around her, and even when she first came into the manor, she was already well-disciplined and obedient.
When Johannes first appeared in their lives, they were in dire need of a tutor willing to teach Lady Aina, specifically. She was a kind and obedient child, illegitimate though she was, therefore no one wanted to associate with her. After all, noble children are taught by other nobles, most commonly the vassals that serve under Duke Evrian. If it were the Duke's other children, they would've been fighting for the spot of being their tutor, but as it was the youngest child who only recently became an official Evrian, the vassals didn't have any desire to tutor her, because they did not see any worth in Lady Aina.
Johannes Davenport served as a Baron under the rule of Duke Evrian. And he was the first applicant that they had who offered to be Lady Aina's tutor.
Oh, how wrong that decision became for the Duke and even more so for Lady Aina.
Poor Lady Aina.
Upon the one-on-one interview with Duke Evrian himself, Johannes showed qualities of cleverness, sharp wit, and even kindness for Lady Aina. He was extremely charming to both Thomas and the Duke. And at the age of 24, he had a youthful boyish charm with his curly brown hair and dark blue eyes. But, even then, Thomas already noticed a certain darkness around him yet that faint suspicion was overshadowed by the relief they all had to have found an agreeable candidate as Lady Aina's tutor.
They didn't even bother to check his background.
Perhaps they should have noticed it. A month after Johannes was hired to be Aina's tutor, the little lady was found in the middle of the halls, passed out. Alarmed by the incident, the Duke demanded the medic to know the reason. The only reason the medic of that time could come up with was that the lady was simply 'too tired'. When Aina woke up, surrounded by her father, Leianna, and the maids, she reasoned that she couldn't remember what had happened.
Perhaps, they should have noticed, then.
The second instance in which Thomas felt something off was when he coincidentally overheard a conversation between Johannes and the lady. A conversation that he found so odd, yet didn't dare delve deep into the meaning behind the man's words.
"Teacher, I-I feel weird"
"Oh, is there something wrong, my dear?"
"L-Last time…I passed out"
"Is it not because you were tired? Didn't the medic tell you so? Are you doubting me, my dear student?"
"No!"
"I would never hurt you, Lady Ciana"
"...Yes"
He was outside the door during that time, a tray in his hands filled with confectioneries for the little lady, yet he couldn't find it in himself to knock after what he just heard. Out of context, it could've meant something. But Thomas couldn't see anything wrong, and there was no evidence for the growing fear he had in his chest. But something…something in his whole being was telling him, pushing him that something really was wrong.
5 months after that, just before Lady Aina turned 11, the entire estate was in chaos as it was the social season in the Capital. The whole manor was preparing for the debut of the Heir, Young Master Yulian, and Young Master Arkin, who were only 1 year apart from each other. They were at the age of 16, and they returned from the Imperial Academy to prepare for their debut. Everyone has tasks to do, and Thomas, head butler and only aide to the Duke, was incredibly busy with the renovation of both the Young Masters room in preparation for their return as well as aiding the Duke in sorting the letters addressed to the young Lords.
No one paid attention to Lady Aina.
It might've been the biggest mistake of my life.
The Duke had full trust for Johannes by that period. He had done his job spectacularly and even received a raise in his salary for the rapid improvement that Aina had shown in her studies. No one had noticed anything, and Thomas chose to ignore the fear that lay forgotten in the back of his mind, growing larger the more he saw Johannes together with Aina.
Once, from afar, Thomas saw Aina flinch at the sight of a manservant, only relaxing when Johannes placed a hand on her shoulder. She was looking positively gaunt, Thomas noticed, and there were dark circles under her eyes that showed she had difficulty sleeping. Thomas makes a note, during that instant, to boil milk for her before she goes to bed that night. But he couldn't help but notice how there was something abnormal, at the way Aina seemed to heavily depend on Johannes, often looking at him for assurance, and how he was the one she searched for when entering a room.
If Thomas was ignorant, he would have accused Aina of harboring feelings for Johannes.
But he knew better.
She was a child. There was no possibility of her even knowing what romantic love is.
It was winter, exactly 10 months after Johannes first came into the manor. And Aina's 11th birthday had just passed, when Thomas saw his whole life crumble before him. He was on his way to the study room that Johannes uses for his lessons with Lady Aina. Thomas had brought a tray of the little lady's favorite cookies, along with a pitcher of milk and a cup of coffee for Johannes. As he neared towards the door of the room, Thomas just had this growing ache in his chest, and his heart pulsed faster than ever. And he had this instinct, that something was just wrong.
It was when Thomas neared the door of the study, just three steps away, that he was able to confirm the growing dread he had been ignoring for a few months now. Just outside the door, Thomas could hear it. Inside the closed door, there were muffled moans of pain paired with grunting. Johannes' loud huffing breaths could be heard outside the door, and as though someone's mouth was gagged with a cloth, there was a small, dampened voice whimpering in pain.
Lady Aina.
Thomas didn't even think to suspect anything. His body moved on its own as he dropped the glass tray, shattering it to pieces. He bursts the door open, and sees the disturbing scene with his own eyes. Lady Aina was beneath Johannes, bare, and her mouth gagged with a cloth as her closed eyes were irritated with tears. The bastard, Johannes, had her pinned down, causing bruises in her wrists that would've been covered by her long-sleeved dress, if not for Thomas discovering everything.
"What are you doing, guards! Guards!" Thomas had never screamed so loudly in his entire life. He pushes Johannes away, and he trips over his dropped pants. Quickly, Thomas grabs a blanket on a couch, and he covers the little lady.
His poor, little Aina.
Thomas had never felt such rage. He screamed for the guards again as he trembled with such intensity. They entered, two of them, with swords on their hips as they seemed to be roaming the grounds of the manor. Immediately, as they saw the scene before them, they looked ready to pounce. Without saying anything, the two guards seem to rush immediately towards Johannes.
"Take him to the dungeons! And bring the Medic here!"
Thomas had wrapped the shaken Lady Aina, 11-year-old, little Aina. There were tears in her eyes as she finally opened them, though as though she was looking far away, Thomas was certain she was disassociating at the moment. A sign that she was defending her own mind from what had happened. Perhaps even at what is happening. Thomas doesn't know how long Johannes had been doing this to Lady Aina.
When the Medic came, the Duke followed.
And his anger was nothing, compared to Duke Evrian's wrath.
When they were gathered inside the study, a spectacle of servants outside along with the Duke's own children with Yulian in front of his younger siblings, protecting them from the horrific scene, the Medic was assessing the now unconscious Lady Aina. A grim look crossed the Medic's face when he finished, and the Duke, shaken from the news, had asked,
"What happened? What happened to my daughter, Thomas?"
Thomas had tears in his eyes as he trembled from fury, and in his arms, he still clutched the small lady, as if shielding her with his own body. "That man, Johannes, he…" he just couldn't find the words to say it.
The Medic carefully spoke. "I apologize, your grace, but Lady Ciana had been…assaulted…sexually" the Medic whispers and his eyes lays on the Duke's other children that listened outside the gaped door. Thomas glared at a nearby maid to shut the door.
Thomas never knew how intense the Duke's unforgiving wrath was.
When the news finally hit him, he quietly ordered Thomas to bring Aina to her room. He drew a sword from a poor nearby knight without batting an eye. His violet eyes darkened with pure rage, and his breath turned ragged. He had only one thing in his mind, murder. It wasn't until Thomas stopped him from committing a crime that the Duke spoke again.
"That bastard hurt my child, Thomas. Do you want me to just sit here, when I am more than capable of killing that man myself?!"
Alixandre's glare was sharp enough to cut him, and his voice held a low and dangerous tone, as though the beast inside him was waiting to be unleashed. He had a violent grip on the sword in his trembling hand. There was an eerie glow in his violet eyes and a savage glint in them as he looked at his butler. But Thomas, who had been working for him for a decade, saw the despair in them. There was defeat, and an intense sadness as the Duke's eyes shifted from him to his daughter, to little Aina.
Thomas had never seen such a sight from him before.
In that instance, there was only one thing that could've calmed the Duke down.
"Your grace, Lady Ciana needs medical attention right now, and the support of her father"
As if a switch had been pushed, the Duke immediately dropped his sword, the iron weapon clanging against the hard marbled ground. On a normal day, Thomas would've fretted that it left scratches on the former Duchess' precious floors, but today, he stands up from where he sat, and Lady Aina, who was unconscious in his arms, was placed into the arms of her own father.
"I don't want to further hurt her" the Duke's voice was now soft as he held his daughter, afraid to wake her up. His hands were trembling, and he carried his daughter so gently, as though he didn't want to break her.
"You are Lady Ciana's father, your grace. You wouldn't hurt her"
That small reminder ignited another spark inside the Duke. He turned away from them, and paced towards the door, and Thomas, the medic, and Aina's maids all followed him.When the door was opened, by the guards beside it, Thomas sees Yulian, Arkin, and Leianna, all standing together, with concern in their young eyes as they take in the appearance of Aina, who was unconscious, and carefully wrapped in a thick cloth as she was carried by their father.
"Father? What happened to Ciana? Did someone hurt her?" There was worry deep in Yulian's identical violet irises as he asked those questions.
"Return to your rooms, you three" the sorrow in the Duke's eyes couldn't have been mistaken for anything else.
"But father - " Leianna wanted to argue.
"Don't argue with me right now. Leianna, please go to your room" a pleading tone crosses his voice as he gives another order to his three children once more.
Thomas knew the job he needed to do. He places his hand on the backs of the children, ushering them to their rooms himself. They had thousands of questions, but when Thomas remained quiet through them all, without even nagging them, the three suddenly felt the severity of the situation. That it wasn't just a simple incident, something unforgiving truly happened to their youngest sister. But Thomas' own thoughts weren't focused on them as he escorted them to their room. Regret and his own despair filled his conscience as he guided the last of the three, little Lady Leianna, to her room.
How long had he been getting away with assaulting her?
Why, why didn't Thomas notice anything?
Why hadn't he realized how much Lady Aina had suffered?
Thomas knew at that moment what he should do. Whatever deranged incident happened inside that room, in that study, shall stay in there. Under no circumstances, will Thomas allow rumours of the incident leaving the grounds of the manor. That afternoon, he dealt with the witnesses of the crime. The Lady's maids and the other servants who became spectators as they watched from the opened door of the study. Thomas directly gathered all the servants, no doubt the details of the incident had already spread among them. He handed them money, a large sum of it. Enough of it to ensure that they wouldn't talk outside the manor.
He knew what the Duke had wanted for him to do. And it was his duty to abide by his every command. Thomas handed each of the servants a white envelope and along with the large sums of gold, it could've only meant one thing. He was firing all of them, except the guards who he called, for his own power doesn't allow him to meddle in the employment of Evrian guards, only the Duke himself holds power over them.
"Thank you for your service" was all he said as he ushered them goodbye. They were still free to spend the night, but when morning came, Thomas implored them all to leave.
When he expected for shouts of disagreements, none came. They simply looked at each other, and their eyes filled with understanding, though there seems to be a bit of hesitance. It was until another servant nodded and left the premises that the others followed. Enclosed in the envelope was a letter of recommendation with the Duke's seal, so finding another job wouldn't prove difficult for them, and the large sum of gold was enough to feed a family of 4 for a year. It was too generous to give a servant who left the house, but Thomas needed to ensure they wouldn't talk.
Though it seemed no one wanted to topic the disgusting actions that the bastard Johannes did to their little lady.
"What about Lady Ciana, will she be alright?"
It was one of Lady Aina's maids, an elderly woman with grey hair, and kind hazel eyes who has been caring for her since she was 6, who spoke when everyone else had gone. Thomas held her hand, and felt reluctant to let her go. But there was nothing he could do, the Duke's orders were absolute.
"She will be cared for, Anna, I swear on my honor"
"Your honor means nothing in the eyes of the common people, Thomas"
Thomas smiled, the expression bitter and ashamed. "I swear on my life, Anna"
"Alright. I know it is the order of his grace, and there's nothing we can do about this. And don't worry, I'll make sure no one speaks of this"
"Thank you"
"I am only doing this for that small child I have been caring for in the past 5 years. If the Duke sees fit to fire us for her sake, then I shall follow his will" Anna smiles and wraps her arms around Thomas, enclosing her in a motherly hug.
When the midnight winter came in the eerily empty manor, Thomas was on his way to Lady Aina's room, holding a basin with a towel in his hands. Though the maids have already changed her clothes, and cleaned her properly just before they prepared to leave the manor, Thomas brought a basin, because the Medic told them to prepare for a heavy fever that would overtake her. Lady Aina was given a shot of medicine, to heal the wounds Johannes had caused her. The Duke was advised to bring a Cleric, a priest of the Holy Order in order for her wounds to fully heal.
But there was no way a Cleric would even come close to Lady Aina who was an illegitimate child.
In the eyes of the Holy Order, she would be considered an 'Impure'.
A person they wouldn't heal, no matter the money offered to them.
Thomas enters, and is greeted by the sight of the Duke sitting close to his daughter. He was sitting in an uncomfortable chair, and he was dressed in the same attire as earlier. It seemed he hadn't moved from that position since earlier. When Lady Aina's lids fluttered slightly open, both Thomas, who stood by the door, and the Duke seated beside her jolted. A few seconds later, her eyes close again, and the Duke relaxes back into his seat. Thomas walked into the room, shutting the door behind him. He placed the basin on the table beside the canopy bed, and he walked around to stand beside the Duke.
"She keeps waking, and going back to sleep"
"She just needs rest, your grace"
"This…I never thought this would happen. To my daughter. In my own home" the Duke's voice was filled with regret and there was sorrow in his shadowed eyes. The winter moon shone its soft light, and it hung a shadow over the Duke who was seated with his back facing the large window on the side of the bed.
"It is no one's fault, but Johannes" he tried to comfort the Duke, despite the pang of regret stabbing his chest.
"I hired that bastard. This incident is the result of my past actions"
"My daughter, my Ciana"
"She shouldn't have endured this suffering" the Duke stifles a heartbreaking sob. "She's only a small child - why did he do this to my daughter?" His head hung low, as he cried openly in front of his butler.
Thomas' chest tightens even more at the sight of a father grieving his daughter. In the shadows of the room, the man in front of him wasn't the Duke, just a father who was blaming himself for the abuse his youngest daughter lived through, a father whose biggest nightmare suddenly came to life.
What had saved the Duke that night from grief and regret overcoming his whole being was when Lady Aina awakes all of a sudden. Her pale eyes slowly reveal themselves as they turn from the ceiling of her canopy to glance upon her father. The Duke almost cowered beneath her empty gaze, as though he was afraid for her to see his shameful state, but Aina reaches for him, and Alixandre immediately takes the hand of his smallest child, the youngest of the bunch. Bruises marked her arm, and her father gently held her, his touch so soft he barely felt her skin.
"D-Dad?" Lady Aina's voice was hoarse, and her eyes were red from crying.
That small voice, and the tiny hand that held him was enough to break the Duke even more. Thomas witnessed, in the darkness of that night, how Alixandre Evrian, who was just a father in that moment, wept in silence.
"C-Ciana, my daughter" he wracked in sobs. Alixandre goes to his knees against the hard, cold floor, and holds the small hand of his child who was losing consciousness once more. He took the tiny hand in his and rested his forehead against them, as he whispered a prayer that filled the room in which the echoes of the blazing fireplace could be heard from outside.
"God, I implore you, as one of your faithful subjects, please release my daughter from this suffering…I'm begging you"
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When Lady Aina woke up after a week had passed. Another nightmare came for the Duke and his family. Thomas had seen how that small lady cowered in the presence of adult men, including her own father, and older brothers. Even the Medic of that time was unable to treat her when she was conscious. She developed an intense fear of men, and physical touch. It was to the point wherein the Duke couldn't even see his own daughter, in fear that she would do something dangerous to herself. She trembled at the sight of men, and would rampage when someone touches her. And most of all…
"The Medic reports that Lady Aina has no memories of her family from when she first entered the manor. However, she remembers bits of what Johannes had done to her"
"She seems to remember you" there were dark bags under the Duke's eyes as he sat in his office, his attire creased and his hair disheveled. Thomas knew he hadn't had proper sleep due to caring for Lady Aina himself since the incident happened.
"Yes, it seems so" Lady Aina's selective memory consisted of her life as a commoner, the first time she entered the manor, vague memories of Johannes and memories of Thomas, who had been so close to her.
She tolerated Thomas, but couldn't stand to see the sight of the Duke. Thomas was ashamed. And he worried deeply for Alixandre who seemed to be losing sleep for weeks now.
"She doesn't need to worry about Johannes. I killed that bastard myself" animosity crosses Alixandre's eyes.
"Move her to the East Wing, Thomas"
"But, your grace! She can't be alone right now after what has happened!"
"You will care for her personally. She seems amiable enough around you"
"You can't leave her alone, your grace. You are her father!"
"Thomas! Can't you see I'm doing this for her sake?" The Duke's violet eyes looked defeated as he screamed back. "I can't bear to see her so afraid of me" his voice cracked as he spoke again and there was desperation in his tired eyes.
"Your grace…"
"The Medic says she needs therapy right now. And she shall recuperate privately in the East Wing" the Duke turned away from him as he stood and faced the window behind him, rubbing his temples in a circular motion.
Though it was against him, Thomas had no other choice, once again, but to nod his head and submit to the wishes of the Duke. The Duke shouldn't have done such a thing. He should've slowly earned the trust of his daughter slowly, and no matter how long it took. He shouldn't be giving up. For the first time in his entire career, Thomas wanted to defy the Duke. His hands balled into fists as he exited the office. He felt an immense sadness for his friend, Alixandre, who seemed to be making a big mistake.