CHAPTER TWO: RUMORS
Stephanie stepped out of the majestic building which has a huge door made of fine woods,she had to walk to the market which was a bit far from her home but she was used to doing that as it had been a long time her father had always ordered her to buy fruits for his mistress which made her wonder why the woman always needed fruits each day and mostly ones bought by her for the past five years and she thought it was her new way to humiliate her, there were many carriages in the mansion without an owner and could be used by anyone but her father never allowed them to make use of the spare carriages and so she never had the opportunity to ride the east duke's family carriage like Ethan and his mother who had one for themselves except she and her mother of course, she decided not to think of it anymore as she was used to it for years now even though she couldn't help but feel disappointed at father.
She was almost close to the market which was crowded as expected.
Stephanie did everything she could tso hide her face so that no one would ever recognize her and that was when she realized that she had forgotten her cloak in her room and that was what she had been trying to remember all this while when she had walked out of the house and she knew that anyone could easily spot her white hair which stood out, her beautiful face, jade like skin and her bright yet captivating deep blue eyes,but with all this features it only made people hate her the more out of jealousy because no one was as beautiful as she is, hatred and ignorance because of what they've heard and their fear of her,the villagers started cursing her while few pitied her and these two weren't what she needed all she wants was understanding, respect and her peace of mind from them. Stephanie saw an old woman selling the fruits she needed and they were fresh too so she decided to buy it and leave quickly, she hurriedly and carefully walked through the crowd approaching the woman who was discussing with her customer she stopped on her track when she heard the woman saying to the other woman
"it's a pity she was born into that family I heard from a close friend that she was a stillborn baby but she started crying after some minutes and I know very well that if not because of her lady Madeline would not be in that loveless marriage with the duke because according to the rumors going around duke Rudolph never loved her he only came to pay a visit to her father and only danced with her during the flower festival ball but it was also said that they were in a relationship, but who would have thought that the poor lady would fall in love with him and got pregnant out of wedlock, he had to marry her since her father insisted that his daughter would not stay in his house with another man's child when the man is alive and single it would only bring shame to him and his daughter even though Duke Rudolph told him that he loves another who is said to be lady Madeline's best friend and his mistress now, lady Madeline wouldn't be miserable now if she hadn't breath after being confirmed dead"
The old woman sighed with pity but the other woman was enraged and she glared at the white haired girl with so much disgust as she said
"if I were to be her mother I would kill her myself isn't it obvious that she is a curse who has such hair at a young age in this whole kingdom but lady mandeline seems like she is obsessed with the duke to the extent of getting pregnant for her best friend's man, I understand her father's hatred towards her who would want to have such thing living under their roof as a child and I heard she is a witch as well, duke Rudolph is benevolent enough not to kill her or sell her out as a slave to other kingdoms" she said with pure disgust but the old woman told her not to have such evil thought as the girl was innocent.
Hearing all that Stephanie was so angry and sad that she ran away from the two women that said whatever they wish to say not minding that she could hear them, running away from the villagers was what she thought was the best option for her but she didn't know how wrong she was.
Stephanie could only think of escaping from the malicious villagers and their venomous words which hurt her ears and heart not realizing that she had run into a lonely alley where no one could be seen, she couldn't hold back her tears as they trickle down her beautiful face she wondered how it was her fault she didn't wish to bring herself back to life, was it her hair it wasn't her fault either, non of these were her doing yet they blamed her for it, her father detest them so much and she was blamed for it once more,and to think that even the villagers would gossip about her and her mother in a market square and no longer in their various homes and neighborhood infuriated her the more they weren't living with her to know what she was going through and the truth as well but yet they decided to hate her just because of her looks and what she did to protect her loved ones,after crying she calmed herself down determining not to expect anything good from the villagers anymore.
Using her handkerchief she wiped her almost dried tears and blew her nose she decided to go back and buy the fruits as she turned around she saw five men approaching her