The Silent Heir

Chapter 1

"...I should be dead..." Emma whispered as she stared at the reflection in the mirror. Her once firm and scarred skin was now smooth and soft. Even her short and disheveled hair was now long and silky once more.

"...yet... I'm still here." Emma whispered as she listlessly stared at her reflection. She should have been happy, she should have rejoiced for the second chance in life she had been given to... yet Emma could not feel any of those emotions. Not even a spark of it.

"...Haaa..." Emma let out a heavy sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose. She was back to her childhood days, a memory she buried deep within the recesses of her war-torn mind. The scars she bears that day were beginning to fester once more.

What made it worse was the strange hollowness inside her. She did not remember she had one but for whatever reason, she felt...empty. Like a shard of herself was missing in her entire being. She knew she had to find it, to find the missing shard... but what was it? Emma could not remember no matter how long she pondered about it.

As if it was at the tip of her tongue, Emma wracked her brain for answers but only the lingering emptiness remains. It felt wrong. It simply felt wrong. Just what is this- "Lady Emma, Duke Erfast summons you." Emma blinked as she heard the man's name.

She could feel her chest tighten ever so slowly as the memories of the man begins to crawl out of its cage like a vile abomination. Steeling her nerves, Emma manages to reign in order once more. "Very well." She whispered calmly as she begins to dress in her nightgown.

As Emma was changing her clothes, she notices a gaze over her shoulder. Her old instincts kick in and immediately begins searching for the source of the gaze as her hand reaches in for a weapon. She soon stops as she met the maid's startled look.

"What?" Emma said. "N-nothing my lady. I will just wait outside then." The maid manages to reply before leaving. Emma stares at the door a moment longer, trying to figure out what was that all about. She soon dismiss her thought as she continues dressing.

Emma wore a simple emerald dress with very little decoration in the standards of the nobility. It perplexed her to no end how if she ever wore such bright clothes . Memory was a fickle thing, but she just can't remember it.

Emma soon walk out the door and found the maid waiting for her. The maid had a disapproval expression written across her face before speaking. "That was fast my lady, though your clothes..." The maid hinted but Emma's mind was somewhere else as she began to walk. "My lady? Where are you going? Aren't you going to change? It is not fit to meet the duke in such-"

A scowl suddenly lit up across Emma's face, startling the maid. "You. What is your name?" Emma bluntly said as the maid trembled slightly. "I-Ifelin. My name is Ifelin of Frush my lady. Is there-" "There is a problem, yes. A certain maid keeps rambling on and on that my ears are beginning to fall off." Emma said as Ifelin paled.

"M-my lady if I had done something wrong to aggravate you, please let me-" "Leave." Ifelin blinked, unsure by the sheer frost of Emma's voice. "P-pardon?" Ifelin meekly inquired as Emma's cold gaze remained. "I said leave. Do some chores, anything for that matter. Just leave me be." Emma said before turning back.

Memories slowly clicked into place as her ire slowly grew more by the second. She could recall now how everyone treated her back then. No matter how hard she tried, they never did gave back the warmth she always give. There was no need to continue this time. Emma forcibly dragged her attention back to reality as her mind would only degrade by the second.

She slowly walked towards the hallways of her childhood days. Emma couldn't help but despise everything in it. From the painting of old ancestors to the cobalt blue hues of the walls, Emma loathed them for every second of it as she finally stood before the door.