Chapter 1: Silence and Rebellion

Today is a day like any other, lying there with nothing to do but stare at the ceiling I've been staring at for so long, the ceiling of a room in which the only thing there is is a bed, a room made specifically for a bastardess.

By the way, my name is Robin, Robin Everhart, the bastard daughter of the most influential duke in this kingdom. But that doesn't matter so much, after all, I'm a few days away from being released from this cell called a room or being cast out into the place called the world.

I don't know which is worse: a place where all you can do is be in silence, in darkness, in an expressionless darkness?

*Sshhlap* - a metal tray was thrown into the room.

When I approached it, it was the same as always: a piece of mouldy bread and a glass of water to soften that stone called bread.

As I ate, I kept thinking: What should I do, should I run away and face a world where people kill out of obligation, or stay in a house that kills for pleasure? In the end, both options are rubbish.

In the first, I must remember that I am in a world where pro-life laws have been abolished, the only law that prevails is the law of the strongest. Considering that strength is one of my main weaknesses, I think I should pass.

On the other hand, remaining in this aristocratic environment bothers me a lot. Having to deal with looks of contempt, to put up with humiliation, to endure all kinds of insults just because I was born a woman nobody knows.

No choice sounds acceptable to me, but if I can choose one option to die, I will die with my eyes held high and not being humiliated by someone who was simply born into a better family.

At that point, I had finished eating, but something was different. On the food tray was something I had never seen before, at least not a real one. I had heard that they had been banned when those things sparked the war.

The government said they weren't necessary and that we should focus on weapons. Yet this thing was here, a flute, according to the books I read. If you blow here...

*Flaut - Flaut* a rather unpleasant sound came out of that thing. I knew it was complicated, but I didn't think it would sound that bad at first.

But hey, what else can I do? I'm locked in here. If I try to get out, the soldiers are ready to beat me until I don't even recognise myself. They confiscated all kinds of books from me when I turned 10, they sealed my window the next year. I have nothing to do, so for now I'll waste time on this.

// After some time...

A soft, gentle whistling sound was heard in that room, one that soothed even the most troubled heart, a whistling sound that resembled those winged animals of legends. It was a flute, a flute that looked quite worn but was fully functional.

But that whistle did not stop time.

But that whistle did not stop time. Time was capricious and stopped at nothing and no one. And today was the day that fate would be sealed.

Today, on my 17th birthday, the guards who had been guarding against my escape from my room entered my room without warning, handcuffed me and dragged me with a rope.

As I walked, I heard the maids laughing at me, the legitimate sons calling me an animal, the soldiers enjoying such humiliations. But it all ended when we reached this door, a door like any other, an ordinary door, but a door that would seal my fate.

As I entered, I saw him, sitting on top of a place from where he could watch what would happen. A burly, big-muscled man who was said to be able to break rocks with a single finger, who went into battle against those things and came out immune. Yes, I'm talking about my father.