Chapter 38

“Chin up, back straight!”

A thin, stinging slap to the middle of her back has Livia sucking in her belly. Or at least, attempting to, given the baby inside it and all. However, the old hag pays little attention to this particular detail. Her thin, cracked mouth frowns deeply on her wrinkled face as she prowls around Livia with soulless eyes.

“When you speak to the other ladies of your station, you do not cower or lower yourself in any way despite your crippling disadvantage,” Madam Montgomery sneers.

“You are to be the future queen of this kingdom, and a queen has no weakness,” The old madam continues on as she comes to a stop in front of Livia. Her shrewd eyes look upon her, and Livia knows, she sees nothing worth salvaging. But her mother had offered her a hefty payment that had seen her showing up on their doorstep early in the morning with a single suitcase, despite her obvious contempt.

Just to spite her further, Livia settles into the perfect posture and stares down her straight nose at the madam. The old women's mouth curls up hideously, but she nods in cold approval.

“It will do for now,” she says after attempting to find some fault and finding none.

“Let us move on, then,” Madam Montgomery points her horsewhip to Livia’s swollen feet stuffed into pointed heeled shoes, “This is entirely unsightly. Do you wish to be the laughing stock of the whole kingdom?”

Livia does not look down, “It’s an after effect of my pregnancy. A common symptom after standing too long in my condition. It will go away once I rest properly.”

“I did not ask why it is happening, you stupid girl. I am pointing out why you thought to showcase it! Longer dresses will hide the disgusting sight. Surely, you are smart enough to put one and two, together, correct?”

Livia glances over to the large window draped by a dark purple curtain, hiding the sunny day outside. Summer was quickly retreating, but the days were still blistering. Especially at their peak. She no longer lived in a world of convenient air conditioning. If it was warm outside, it was warm inside. Paper fans could only get her so far. Especially when Livia was dealing with hot flashes on top of it. Another wonderous symptom to go along with all the others.

“I was hot, so I wore something that would keep me cool,” she says simply, barely reframing from shrugging.

A dark blur, and the sound of flesh being smacked with hard leather, was the only indication that Livia felt the burning pain on her hand and forearm. It left a long, bright red welt on her skin, but she did not flinch. However, she was quick to keep her belly out of harm's way. The old bitch had no qualms on where she strikes. As long as it was below Livia's shoulders, and easily hidden by long sleeves, Madam Montgomery was granted free reign by her mother.

“Do whatever it takes,” Lynette had said casually, sipping on her morning wine, “She is already marred by many defects. I doubt a few more will even make a difference,” She had muttered darkly.

Back behind the walls of the Valentine Estate, in the comfort of her own territory, away from prying eyes, was when her mother’s true colors bleed out. Gone was the dotting and protective mother. Gone, was the supportive woman who stood tall by her daughter’s side. In between the grand balls and galas, in between tea parties and exclusive invites, Duchess Valentine had little regard for her daughter and step-daughter.

At least until she remembered they existed and bared down on them with the delicacy of an elephant stomping on an ant. One moment, she was gone entirely. Another, she was passively orchestrating her daughter’s lives. The next, she was plucking personally at the puppet strings, breathing down their necks.

It seems to Livia that her mother was taking the reprieve away from high society to gather her baring's. To fully process all that has happened in the past few days.

But the duchess did not want to stray too far from Livia. Not after all the chaos, her daughter had caused when she had been on her own. So, she fell back on her other plan. Lynette made good on her brilliant idea to retrain Livia. She hired the old madam and foster her daughter off on her while she sat back and drunk herself into a stupor in the early hours of the morning. Surely, by being hazy of mind, she will likely be able to come up with some conniving plan to seat her daughter on the throne.

Or so, Livia guessed her mother thought.

“Do not backtalk me, girl. I do not know what hell hole you crawled from, but you are back in proper company. You hold your tongue, and only speak when granted the permission to do so,” the old bitch hisses darkly. She was close enough that Livia could smell her rancid breath, and see a dark smudge of lipstick on her yellow, tea-stained teeth.

Even so, Livia’s face remains passive. Scowling, frowning, or anything that will have her eyebrows furrowing would just aggravate the migraine she had been harboring for three days. It made its presence known the moment she woke up the day after Princess Adanna’s ball. Everything was heightened, even the smallest sound had pain pulsing behind her eyeballs, but Livia was very familiar with headaches. She suffered through them all throughout her childhood, and never outgrew them. If anything, they had only grown in intensity. No amount of pain relievers ever dulled its effect, so Livia had little choice but to suffer stoically.

If she had any say, Livia would be curled up in her bed in a dark room devoid of all noise. But she did not. She was a young lady still under the thumb of her parents. And while her father was still in the capital, greasing elbows, she was left under the ‘care’ of her mother. So, Livia mustered up all her patience and reigned in her temper with supernatural strength. Soon, she fell into a familiar state of numbness.

So, this time, she keeps quiet in false obedience. Even as the welts on her arms and hands sting, and her son wiggles restlessly in the safety of her womb, Livia just sinks. Further, and deeper into herself.

Because if she doesn’t...

If she lets herself feel even a hint of emotion...

No. She couldn’t even think about it.

Madam Montgomery sneers and steps back, “Now, walk around the room.”

Livia does as she is told. She barely makes it around the dark end table before critique is thrown her way like a sharp dagger.

“What is that? What is that!? You are rocking side to side like some drunk commoner!” Madam Montgomery stalks forward and raises her whip.

This time, it catches Livia on her wrist and hip, and strikes twice in the same place, breaking the skin. Once satisfied with the damage, the old bitch smiles cruelly, before demonstrating how Livia is supposed to walk.

“Again,” the old madam says.

Livia does as she is told. She totters forward but her body is unbalanced by her pregnancy, and rocks side to side, giving her an awkward gate. She had failed once more and waits for the next strike.

The same wrists take another hit, along with her clothed thigh.

“Straighten out that back! Light steps, not too fast!” the old madam does not stray far and keeps close to Livia’s shadow.

“Turn.”

Livia does.

“A boar has more grace than you do. Fat with a bastard, and scarred like a common whore, how shameful it would be for you to become queen. Your mother has always been a touch mad in the head, but to think she would be so foolish to take the façade this far. Turn.”

Livia pivots on her swollen heel. Still silent.

“Not like that you breeding pig!” The old bitch bends to assault her legs, “Light steps, I said! Has your time away also made you hard of hearing!? You are stomping about like an elephant. Turn. Around the room, again. No, do not poke out the ghastly stomach of yours. Are you trying to bring attention to your greatest shame! And what is with that arrogant expression on your face? You dare to mock me! You!?”

The whip becomes a blur again as Madam Montgomery's face suddenly seethes in pure hatred.

Livia once again does not flinch or cringe away from the violent assault. She lets herself be backed into a wall as the old bitch bares down on her with sadistic rage.

“You are nothing! Do you hear me!? Nothing! You shouldn’t have come back. No one wanted you. No one missed you. You are a disgrace to this kingdom. A stain that needs to be rid of.” the old madam snarls, spit flying as she swings her whip wildly.

The old bitch is screaming now. Her voice loud and harsh as her face turns red in her fury. With how loud she is ranting and raving, Livia had thought the door to the private room would open at any moment. Her gaze falls to it as she brings her arm up to protect her head and the other to curve around her stomach. She turns so her back takes the brunt of the damage, but that only seems to enrage the old bitch further.

Livia’s empty eyes remain on the door. Ignoring the blood dripping down her arms and the pain that is everywhere. Surely, someone was going to come in to check what was happening. To see what is causing all the commotion.

But no one enters.

It is as if she had placed a privacy spell on the door. As if not a sound could escape it, but Livia knows this to be untrue.

It’s not that no one could hear, but from the beginning, all orderly had been ordered to avoid this section of the estate.

When Livia had been called down by her mother, the maids surrounded Liliana and pulled her sister away, telling her that she been granted a few hours outside. Liliana had been happy but did not wish to go without Livia. The maids insisted.

“Plus, Miss Liliana, Lady Livia will be busy all day. The duchess proclaimed so. Come, we mustn't bother your sister. She has important duties to attend to as a Crown Princess Candidate,” One maid, an older one, had said, casting a sly look Livia’s way.

“But,” Liliana had protested, looking in worry at Livia.

“It is fine, Lily. Go,” Livia had said, coaxing her forward with a gentle push to her shoulder.

Liliana has still been very reluctant, but Livia had been called away at that point and hadn’t given her another moment to say anything else.

Livia had been so distracted by her migraine, of which she had suddenly realized she had been without since she had been away, that she didn’t pay attention to the empty halls that the madam had led her down.

But now, it was all clicking in place.

Her mother...nothing ever happens in the Valentine Estate without her mother knowing.

Madam Montgomery had been dismissed from the Valentine Estate when Livia had been twelve and Liliana had been ten. It had been in the middle of a school year. Livia had been away at Aster Academy.

It had been when her father had been overseas, far away from the Valentine Estate. Livia had been worried sick about Liliana being alone but was sure she would be fine for Lynette had once again become distant and detached. But it is only after everything had happened did Livia find out.

Lynette had gained renewed interest in Liliana. And she had thought to be a ‘good’ mother, and hired a tutor for her stepdaughter. To teach her the proper ways of society. Liliana was no longer seen as a child, but a potential asset. Livia had been seven when her mother had made the same decision for her. The only reason Liliana hadn’t been taught the lessons all girls born in high society sooner was because Duke Valentine put it off.

But he hadn’t been there.

And it hadn’t ended well.

Liliana had suddenly become sick after being energetic for days. Lynette had thought she was faking it and became erratic. But Lynette hadn’t been stupid. She had known not to put her own hands on Liliana. So, she had encouraged someone else too.

“I wasn’t!” Liliana had cried to Livia days after, clinging to her sister, “I wasn’t faking it, I swear! I tried to do as I was told. I tried so hard. I don’t want to embarrass father! I don’t want to embarrass you!” She had sobbed, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Mother is right. I’m weak. I’m a burden. I shouldn’t have been born. I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” She cried.

“No, no, Lily, that’s wrong. Shh. It’s okay. I’m here. I got you,” Livia had crooned and gathered her sister up to her body, and rocked her back and forth.

Livia had never been given the details of what happened. She had been so focused on comforting Liliana and reassuring her sister, that by the time the younger girl had calmed down; Livia did not have the heart to ask. She had glimpsed of the purple welts on the back of her little sister’s hand, and came to her own haunting conclusion and had burned the name of the madam who had been dismissed in her mind.

Now, you would think, after everything Lynette did, after Duke Valentine even witnessed it himself, that something would have changed right?

Nope.

Lynette hadn’t been the one to physically abuse Liliana after all. No, the blame for that had fallen entirely on the madam.

Livia had said it before, hadn’t she?

Her mother was one of the best actresses she ever met. When Lynette truly wanted to, she could convince the devil that he was an angel. As a naïve, foolish child, Livia had fallen for her mother’s acts over, and over again.

And Duke Valentine, why, he wouldn’t have dared to broadcast the fact that something went wrong under his own roof without him knowing, his pride swelled too big for him to even entertain the idea. So, Madam Montgomery had simply been dismissed and been unrecommended.

That. Was. It.

If only that had been the first and last occasion such a thing had happened. But unfortunately, it was only the beginning.

So, Livia had known what to expect when her mother had given the madam free reign. She had known what it would mean because it has happened before. Her mother was angry with her. Her mother wanted her to suffer. To learn her lesson. And then, when it was all said and done, Lynette would swoop in and kiss the hurts away. Her mother would pretend that she had no idea as if they both didn’t know it was what she had wanted all along. Then Livia would be forgiven by her mother and everything would become peaceful. Until Livia screwed up again.

When other ‘teachers’ had been brought in. Not all of them were cruel. They couldn’t be, for word would have eventually gotten back to Duke Valentine. But all it had taken was one or two to do lasting damage. For a friendly face to suddenly turn mocking and sadistic.

Livia and Liliana had quickly learned that the only ones they could trust were each other. They had soon realized that they were prisoners in their own home when their father was away.

But it never went beyond a few, brutal hits. It had never escalated to anything that could cause lasting damage on them physically. Not after Lynette's dark scheme had been discovered the first time.

Livia had never been beaten by her mother’s hired help before.

Until now.

It was the sound of glass shattering.

The thin wall holding off her emotions was gone, and it all rushed back to her in an instant. For a second, she felt like she was drowning, pulled underwater as everything overwhelmed her.

Then there was almost a silent ringing in her ears.

Livia no longer felt any pain. Her head-splitting migraine had lfited. She felt not a single sting from her wounds.

When her eyes open again, it was to see the blue face of Madam Montgomery before her. The old bitch still had her hand raised to strike her once more, but now it was frozen in midair.

Livia blinks once.

When had she raised her own arm?

Indeed, it was held up before her and curled like she was holding an invisible cup.

Or a scrawny neck.

Ah. I see. I’m the one choking her.

“Uh-..urh-” The old bitch gasps, desperate for air.

“This won’t do,” Livia thinks out loud, voice cold, “It would be strange if you died of asphyxiation out of the blue without any handprints. It would be unbelievable. At least, not without the help of magic. Which I'm not supposed to have.”

“Urk..ua-...ple-”

Livia drops her hand. Along with it, was the old madam, who sinks to the floor and takes in a long draw of air as she clutches at her own neck, coughing.

“H-how?” Madam Montgomery chokes out, trembling as she stares up at Livia with raw fear in her eyes.

Livia ignores her, taking stock of her wounds with her magic, and checking up on her son. He answers back with a hearty kick to her bladder as if he was scolding her. She winces a little and presses her legs together. It wouldn’t do to go peeing on the floor because her bladder was on a timer of five minutes. Not to mention it would completely ruin the dark menace thing she had going on.

But the important thing was, her son was safe. The layers of protection spell she had placed over her belly hadn’t budged an inch. Even if Livia took physical damage, she made sure that no matter what, her son would always be protected. That doesn’t mean she would ever endure being beaten again, especially while pregnant.

But it was all a means to an end.

Livia knew, from the moment she entered Valentine Estate, that she could not go back to how it used to be. She couldn’t be the obedient daughter, she couldn’t even pretend to be, to play into the role. After everything...No. She just couldn’t. Maybe it would have been easier to bow her head and bide her time, but time was something she had very little of now.

She wasn’t going to waste it. Not anymore.

So, she thought. What can I do? How do I keep my title, my inheritance, but also remove myself from the stifling abusive, and neglectful presence of my mother and father? How do I protect Liliana from them?

Then she remembered The Clause of Liberation, and she knew what she had to do.

Finally, the cycle will be broken.

“M-monster. Witch!” The old madam hisses, quickly gaining strength as she scrambles back on her hands and feet.

Livia smiles slowly.

That was the second time she had been called a witch. It was considered a grave insult. It put a light to the shadows of the rich history this continent boasted. The kind that had been awash in war and tragedy.

Livia lifts up her hand and aims.

Madam Montgomery flinches and scrambles quickly to her feet. She runs for the door.

“Bang,” Livia says, but in her mind, another spell is whispered.

The old bitch clutches at her chest, her face paling. She stumbles into an end table, knocking the contents off it. She tries to say words, but by then, her feet collapse under her, her eyes roll back, and she falls to the floor, dead silent.

Livia hums and walks toward her. She stares down at the old madam’s unseeing eyes in silent passivity, before her face scrunches up in shock, sorrow and big crocodile tears spring out of her eyes.

Then Livia screams like she is being murdered, and collapses by the dead corpse, shaking it frantically while calling out for help desperately.

“Please! Somebody, anybody, please come! The madam has collapsed! She needs help!!” She wails.

Unlike before, when the commotion in the room had gone completely ignored, this time, it seems, it was too much. A servant stumbles into the room, and then another. Soon, Livia is pulled gently away from the body, as someone seeks out her mother.

Livia curls into the chest of one of the butlers, sobbing, but through the veil of her hair, she sees how shocked they are. Not only by the collapsed body of Madam Montgomery but the state she was in physically. There was no denying the abuse she just endured. She had wounds openly bleed, some already turning a dark purple, bringing it more into contrast on her pale skin.

As more people file into the room, Livia secretly smiles through her tears.