The Southern part of the Empire was known for it's mysteries back when the nation had just been founded. There had once been rumours that the most powerful families here in the South, were all associated with a witch, who blessed them with wealth and supernatural powers.
I'm not so sure about the witch and wealth part, but after my years of extensive research, I had come to understand a few mysteries and powers that existed in this world. I myself, wielded a magic of some sorts. This power of mine, is among my trump cards.
The power of hypnosis. This power enables you to control a person to do any series of actions you wished. All you need to do is stare into the eyes of the person you wanted to control and say your command.
This power was only possessed by those who inherited the special blood of the Deor family, and their rare dark purple eyes.
In the novel, this special power wasn't mentioned, so I was rather lucky to have discovered it the time I was ten years old.
You may think, I'm overly powerful right? Being able to control people to obey my every command just with a mere stare. But this power had some conditions you had to meet, before being able to hypnotize a person.
First of all, hypnosis could only work at night time. Secondly, hypnosis could not work on those who were strong minded or inherited even a small amount of the Deor special blood.
Thirdly, to use hypnosis, you had to have a very strong mind. If not, you could end up going crazy yourself. Fourthly, you had to be in a room with a lit candle.
The fifth condition, and being the biggest drawback was the fact that hypnosis could only be used three times, in every ten years. Even if the attempt to hypnotize a person was unsuccessful, it would still count as an act of using your power.
Therefore the power had become a rare opportunity. After discovering it when I was ten, I exhausted the three times limit for a decade and found some books that talked about the mysterious power.
I was currently twenty two years old. Ten years had passed and I had my three attempts for this decade.
Now I had used one attempt in trying to hypnotize father into signing to make me the heir of the Deor family.
I had suspected that it would be unsuccessful but I still wanted to make an attempt.
'Two more times remaining'
"Why not make me the heir of the Deor family? All you need to do is sign some papers" I asked sweetly.
Father clucked his tongue in contempt. "Then you'd kill me off once I've done so"
"Me? Kill my own father? Whatever makes you say so?"
"Please spare me your act"
My finger tapped father's desk impatiently. I stood up from the chair then went to the front of the desk, standing before father.
Due to me being shorter in height, he looked down at me, while I glared at him, not feeling intimidated even in the slightest.
We both glared at each other with hatred.
If not for the fact that he had to sign and affirm my inheritance, just as he had said, I would have ordered Harper to slice his throat a long time ago.
And the same went for him. He would have killed me a long time ago, if not for the fact he wanted to study my power of hypnosis.
"Is that why you don't want to affirm my inheritance because you're jealous of me? Jealous that your daughter possesses the powered of hypnosis which was sadly, not passed unto you"
He clenched his fist, as if he was going to punch me. But he didn't. He wouldn't. His eyes screamed to kill me. But he didn't. Not because he cared for me. But because if he was to harm me, or kill me, he'd be unable to study the power of hypnosis which he so much desired.
"You little b*tch!" Father cursed at me, earning my amusement.
"It's the truth. Despite possessing the Deor's purple eyes, you can't harness the power of hypnosis. It's a bit too sad"
Father got tired of our little 'glaring competition'. He sighed then ran his fingers through his light brown hair.
"If I had known you'd turn out to be a monster, I would have killed you the moment you were born"
"And if I had known that you'd be my father, I would have poisoned you to death while I was a child. Meaning that the family's name and wealth would automatically have gone to me"
'Honestly. At the time I was younger, I did not know that the Marquis was such a tough nut to crack!'
I stepped away from his front, allowing him to walk to his chair and sit on it.
Here we are. A pair of father and daughter, who absolutely hate each other, but need something from the other.
"Do you really want to hand over the family title to Cardin? Your nephew? Not even your own child....I thought you were the type to get obsessed with who exactly takes over from you. Cardin will ruin the Deor family. He doesn't have it in him to take over a family as great as Deor"
What I said was the truth. Cardin was not qualified in the least to be the head of the Deor family.
Father only stared silently at me. Not uttering a word. I continued in my speech.
"I guess you don't have a choice. Since you have a prejudice against female heirs. And the fact being that one of your daughters is a monster, while the other is plain stupid"
The stupid daughter was of course Paisley. While I, as labeled in his head, was the 'monster daughter'
He remained silent. I went on.
"I used to wonder, why not give birth to another heir? After all you don't have respect for your wife, mistress or household. That was why when I found out your 'condition' it all made sense to me"
Father could not remain silent and listen to me. He hit his hand on the table making a loud noise.
"Watch your mouth"
"You've been away in the capital for so long. I almost forgot that you don't like it when I talk about your 'condition"
With those words, I opened the door and left father who was in a rage, but could do absolutely nothing about it.
You may wonder what exactly is this 'condition' that father is going through. Well, to put it simply father is unable to have children ever since seventeen years ago. Meaning that Marquis Deor, my father, is impotent.
***
Then, I was a five year old child, walking through the hallway of the Deor mansion. I was passing by father's office. After making sure no one was around, I placed my ear on the door in order to enable me to hear the conversation in the room.
After being reborn as a child, I had a habit of eavesdropping on the conversation of adults, in order to be informed and aware of what was happening.
The novel didn't have much details about certain things. The main focus was on the romance between the male and female lead. I couldn't rely on some basic information, so I constantly sought out news about affairs in the mansion.
"There's no other way to cure you, sir" The conversation in the room caught my attention. I listened intently after making sure no one was around.
There was the sound of a loud bang, probably father hitting his fist on the table in anger; a sign that he was really annoyed. His tone seemed seething with complete irritation.
"There must be a way! I must have an heir...what about the relic of health?"
Everywhere became dead silent after that. I wondered what had happened. Suddenly I heard some footsteps coming towards the door, so I stealthily backed away. Acting as if I was just passing by, I glanced up at the door that opened. Father came out, I expected someone to follow, but to my surprise it was only him. And his office seemed empty....
For a moment we stared at each other. I then smiled sweetly at him, without breaking his gaze.
'Since you don't want to pass the family title unto me, I'll take it by force'
Maybe father had noticed the emotions that swirled in my eyes. The confidence which I used to look back up at him, as a five year old child. From the moment he refused to fall for my charms, to become one of my puppets, and tried to use me in an engagement for his own benefit, he became marked as my enemy.
I monitored his every move, and eventually found out father's secret.
After he had Paisley and I, in the process of doing several magic tests, he messed himself up.
Marquis Deor, my father, made himself impotent!