The first daughter of the first Aethalgard, Seraphina Evangeline Vespera—later switched to Seraphina Evgenia Vespera—never knew who her father was up until her mother died.
However, her father always knew he had a child who was her. But was too engrossed into work to even join her naming ceremony. Thus, Seraphina carried her mother's last name as her own last name. Given that she was of 'noble' birth, she received three names.
Her mother named her Evangeline because she was the 'bearer of good news'. There was nothing more happy than to have a daughter who was so quiet and calm as her. A tiny doll wrapped in soft towel, squirming around while taking in her mother's face with those brilliant deep red eyes. They looked like two drops of blood had accidentally stained her white eyes.
Seraphina, was given because she was like a tiny angel descended upon her. Her mother never once regretted having such a daughter... Even if, the others were.
Back then, she was the Guardian of Death, the third Aethalgard and Justice's first wife who took divorce within the first five months.
Because she annulled their marriage, the Guardians of the Rise faction started calling her greedy. But she focused on raising Seraphina. It made her overwork sometimes—staying up night after night to make sure her daughters face was always radiant. That baby glow from her skin looked like glitter whenever she ran her fingers throw it.
During hard times, her baby girl was her only Safe Haven... If she felt like life was burdensome, she saw little Seraphina's face and immediately flashed a smile and tried to make it better for her daughter's sake.
For three years... Nothing went wrong.
Until—
"*Cough*... Go bring me my medicines."
"But my Sovereign—!"
"Go. Don't make me... *Cough*... Stand up."
The servants could only watch with pity, share a sorrowful glance with the little kid and walk out the door.
Seraphina—from a very young age—knew her mother won't make it to see her adult ages. Vespera was running her health down to rock bottom for no results.
The little girl could only grasp her little teddy and stare at her mom's beautiful face turn dull, blood-stained and chapped. She couldn't tell if it was truly her mother or an old person who was impersonating her. She aged decades in three years.
"Mom?" Seraphina's teddy hung low to the ground beside her. "You are... Not going to make it."
Vespera snapped her gaze to her little daughter's face, horrified by what she just heard coming from her child's mouth. "Wha—no, no! Mommy is just... Acting."
Acting... Seraphina stared at her mother's face, feeling betrayed. She had been intelligent since a very young age, but she couldn't show it for the Rise faction's jealousy.
Slowly, Vespera reached down to lift her daughter up onto the crook of her hip. "Little my little angel... Even if your mommy never makes it to see you grow old and die contented, promise me you will never... Take over your dad's inheritance. I will be leaving her seat for you to take. No one else... Ever."
Although she never heard it from her mother's mouth, rumors said that Justice himself stated that he plans on killing any heir who is not an established male. Vespera, however, already somehow knew she was having a daughter. So she took her leave and tried her best to leave her daughter in a station higher than her father.
It was a under-covered revenge.
She wanted to show that her daughter could achieve more than any male heir. And she could do it all by herself. So she walked down a path with the most risk.
Sacrificing herself if needed to give her daughter the entire world because she already had half a world.
Sadly, just when Seraphina barely turned four, her mom fell to her death-bed. Her father didn't even bother to visit, although rumors said he cried from hearing the news. But her mother's words were more clear.
She will not even talk to her father unless needed.
Because she was someday going to take over the throne of the dead, she was going to have to interact with her father someday or the other. Her father was the first Aethalgard and everything started with him, and ended with him.
Her mother made it up to being the third Aethalgard, then slowly started getting out of the work zone when Seraphina was three-and-a-half. From then, she and Vespera grew more and more closer which even the servants wished that the little heiress wasn't so doomed. Because they knew... They knew the later life was going to be so lonely.
That was just their own domestic problems between mother and daughter.
Then there was... Their father's problems...
He got married again one year after the divorce—because he was in need of a strong and healthy male heir. The another year later, Seraphina had a younger half-sibling. And to her father's liking, he was little brother.
Erebus Valerique Astraea.
His birth was so special, banquets was held for three months straight without a stop—more then when a coronatipm was being held. As soon as he was named, he was gifted the title of Guardian of Wrath, a promised seat as the first Aethalgard, and a three storey mansion—just for him.
His mother was gifted three carriages filled with jewelries and hand-sewn gowns.
While Vespera was said to have only received a gold band as a gift for her wedding—a standard thing all women received.
While outside, everyone was joyous about the newborn, Vespera was diving into losing her mind. Rumors were circulating of course, but it was gruesome.
"Compared to the first wife, the second is definetly a lot better."
"I heard that the first wife is ill. And she can't even look after her own child as much. Such arrogance seems to have led her to no good after all."
"What was the point? She did nothing more then just live lavishly in fame."
Vespera was physically and mentally ill by then. She was thinking whether she was even doing well as a mother for her daughter she left with.
Truth be told, Seraphina was spoilt with love and lavishness given by her mother. She claimed that her daughter wasn't receiving enough but her daughter was being treated like a little doll. Her hair was combed till silky, she wore new clothes almost everyday, her neck was tiny with a small locket. Nothing could compare to the love Seraphina received from her mother.
But that little kid also knew that... None of this was going to last forever.
She was afraid for her fourth birthday.
Her mother, started to spend more time out of work with when daughter. Talking to her, introducing when to servants who were devoted to Vespera, sometimes even to some Guardians from the Eclipse faction.
Soon enough, time came grinding to a stop. The death whistle grew louder day after day, and finally, it was Vespera's turn to leave.
That day, the sky wasn't just dark. It was equivalent to void. However much Seraphina tried to force down her tears, she couldn't. Losing her mother was like losing an entire world and falling deep into a thorny field.
As Vespera lay on the bed—coughing up the last of her life force—Seraphina finally broke down. She squirmed out of the servants hands and climbed up the bed to see her mother's face one last time. She just didn't know why people had to die.
"Mama! Mama! Why do you have to go?! Take me with you!" She weeped into her mother's chest. Her eyes swim with tears that the coming years will never be able to bring out.
"If I take you with me... You won't be able to grow up, my baby girl." Vespera flashed a smile—tried her best to. "I build all this for you. You have to show your father that you are stronger than what he expected."
"I don't care about my father! I don't want the throne!"
"But... You can't fight it. Life is cheap... And expensive. A simple word can end it, and a simple word can give you a reason to live. Remember that always." She wheezed out as a cough rattled her lungs.
"And... You will never give your father a reason to take you as his 'child' ever again. You are Seraphina Evangeline Vespera. Not Seraphina Astraea."
A single tear fell out of her mother's eyes as if even mentioning her daughter's name was now hard for her to take in. She leaned up from her pillows to kiss her daughter in her forehead.
"I was so happy. I had a daughter like you. You look exactly like me... That makes me much more happier."
Before Seraphina could even process the sentence, her mother was gone.
She saw her mother's body fall six feet into the ground, a layer of dirty soil falling over her pretty face. Seraphina realized... She will never get to see her mother ever again. It was a pain so intense, her throat was contracting on itself.
She let out a shriek right there, telling them to at least place a white cloth on her mother's face so she stays just as beautiful as she remembered.
But... She didn't even know why she would say that. A white cloth will rot away too. And it just so happened that she met her father the same day.
It was evening. The first Aethalgard walked over to the grave to see if his first wife was truly dead. However, seeing a very small version of his wife, he was confused. A little bit more recalling, and he got the idea.
"You must be... Seraphina." He took a step closer to the little kid.
She didn't lift her head. Seeing this, her father took another deliberate step forward.
"You must know me already—"
"Yes, my Sovereign. You are the first Aethalgard." She stood up, finally. Right in front of her mother's grace, she bowed her head and started to walk away. "I will leave you to take a moment and watch her grave."
She was very young, but spoke like a mature adult. Not only that, the so-called, well-loved, spoilt Seraphina saw her incredibly powerful father with a cold indifference.
Justice just stood there for a second. Slowly turning around to look at the kid who he never even got to look at during her birth.
"Seraphina... Do you not know who I truly am?"
She turned around. Silently annoyed.
"Yes. You are the Guardian of Justice, the first Aethalgard."
"No, no... Then you mustn't know yet." He let out a fragile smile. "I am your father. Vespera divorced me five months into our marriage and I didn't know she had my child until I heard later on." He tried to near her again.
"There is something called ''. You aren't sure I am even truly your child. I look just like my mother."
"Yes. But—"
"I don't want to be the heir to your throne." She stated clearly. "You should understand... Even if you are my father, I don't want to die due to just my gender. My mother left me adequate inheritance to run me five generations without a hassle."
For once, the first Aethalgard felt guilty over a small child's words. It made him realize... That while he and Vespera did almost the same thing for their heirs, one gave more love to it than the other.
Erebus happened to hate both his parents for viewing him as a property. Seraphina already knew her step-mom was a menace and a gold-digger. Otherwise... How does a mere low-level servant suddenly become the second Aethalgard?
Victoria...
She had platinum blonde hair that reached her knees and green eyes that shown like the summer grass. They had a yellow hue in them, giving it a warmer tone, but she was never as warm as she seemed.
Whenever she went with her mother to the Rise faction, that woman would glare down at the kid like she was a rubbish laying recklessly around.
Vespera would try her best to keep Seraphina out of view, but one-and-a-half-year-old Erebus will never allow that.
That toddling toddler would look at Seraphina and shout, "sisha!", then walk away. This signalled to the woman that Seraphina was around and come around to flex her expensive attires.
"Seraphina. You are a very young heiress." Justice stated while kneeling on the ground in front of her. "You need someone to look after you."
"I don't." She answered back. "I think my mother taught me enough, thank you." Before Justice could say another word, she walked away.
It all happened over-night.
A four-year-old orphan... Living amidst a political battlefield. It all came washing down on her. She was no longer just an heiress... She was...
***
"My Sovereign?" A younger Matthew knocked on the door, peaking through the gap to see it she was busy. "May I come in?"
"I am alright if you don't ask for permission. This is my study." Five-year-old Seraphina answered while pushing apart a stack of papers. Her scribbles said everything, she didn't know much about it.
All she did, was writing names that she didn't know belonged to who. She only did as much as she could for the time-being—trying to be like her mother.
Seraphina was so deeply wounded by her mother's death, her smile was wiped away. It was hard for her to accept—it made her cry herself to sleep where her mother would sleep beside her all those years.
Slowly, the little kid put her pen down.
"Matthew?" She asked with a very soft voice, hanging her head low.
"Yes, my Sovereign?" He asked, adjusting his glasses. Back then, he looked about eighteen or so.
"Am I doing well?" Fina asked with all her might, clenching her chair at her sides. "My mother used to do better than me."
It didn't take him long to realize that she was still just a kid trying to keep the promise she made to her mother, who also challenged herself to face down her father.
Slowly, he walked up to her chair and picked her up. His fingers stroked her hair as he rocked her in his shoulders.
"You have done enough. You have done your best, and you are doing just fine... my Sovereign."
That was all she needed to hear. She buried her face into his coat and wept out all the rage, frustruation and sorrow she held in her.
"Matthew... I miss my mom."