To save lives and futures

A few months later

Article from the Golden Morning

The duchess and duke of Vermonde have been seen visiting towns all over the empire, not only making the crowd cheer at sight but also melting the hearts of the people with their kind gestures. Especially young duchess Sheryansha Vermonde is adored by the people, having her own fanclub that praises her every move she makes, led by none other than lady Esrela Snow. With her lead there are over fifty participants in the our lady is the best cheers. She also seems to be a close friend of the lady herself. The Vermonde dukedom is flourishing indeed. The former duke is taking a vacation in the neighboring kingdom after finally being left off charge. Seems like he is enjoying it rather lavishly. Also there seems to be witnesses that said that Duchess Vermonde was establishing something new? Will we be seeing her being lovey-dovey with her husband again or-

“What kind of article is this even!” I panicked and crumbled the article as I read what was written by the famous unknown author of the Golden morning.

“I think they should have talked more about your beauty” Teiran complained.

“Teiran! That’s not the right time to crack a joke!” I sighed.

“I meant every word I said!”

“Seriously, you are unbelievable!”

“But that’s what you love about me.” He smirked.

Why do you know me so well, seriously what am I even supposed to do?

“See? You can’t even deny it!” He pressed even further.

“That’s because we are riding right now and also shouldn’t we concentrate on our matter right now, h-u-s-b-a-n-d!” I hissed embarrassed.

“Fine, I will stop” he sulked.

It’s been two months since Teiran and I officially got married. It was a rather grand party, with all our closest friends and the citizens of Vermonde. Mica and I met once every two weeks, training our abilities together and going down to the town together with Teiran who would always clear his time for me. Mica became like a real little brother to me, although he would still create a mess out of the place whenever we have to part ways again.

Esrela and I also held monthly tea parties and enjoyed each other's company. Together with Mira we all became close friends. Well Mira would call me sister happily and praise me in front of everyone which still embarrasses me even now! I am still not used to the people calling me the saviour of our empire. And for some reason Esrela and the ladies from the party decided to create a fanclub! No, why would they even do that! I want to bury myself in the ground.

I felt my cheeks heating up just from thinking about that.

“Are you having a fever?” Teiran said while putting his hand on my cheek.

“No, I am just embarrassed" I sighed.

“Because of your fanclub?”

“How did you know?”

“Ever since you read that part in the article you have been moving rather frantically.”

“I see, you really don’t miss out on anything huh?”

“Well if it concerns my dear wife, of course I won’t. Well more than that I think we are here.”

“Finally! Our first client!”

We did enjoy our married life together however Teiran and I, with the support of everyone from the duchy, made a huge project come true.

“The safe house foundation!" I exclaimed in excitement. Teiran nodded brightly.

We created the safe house foundation. A programme to help people who are unfairly framed like me and in need of assistance to clear their name. Also to help everyone who encountered violence and malice and wants to get away from toxic households. It was created out of our desire that no one ever should be treated like the people in Sylth, like Mica who at a young age had to go through so much, like the women that died right before my eyes, like myself who was framed and left in a bloody mansion. We established it to stop people from going down the wrong path like my aunt did. Maybe this will help to actively fight against the darkness that is hidden in our empire even until now.

Under imperial decree we were granted the authorization that everywhere bestowed with the name of safe house, noone, not even a high-ranking noble could interfere with the people inside, once you step inside you are safe. We already built three of these safe houses, which are few but since we just started we are moving rather fastly. They were colored in the bright colors of purple and gold which were representative colors of us, so these houses would stand out for everyone, even those who couldn’t read. We also worked on magic circles together with Carina that would activate in the case of an emergency and teleport the building right next to our duchy. Well that was the last mechanism that would activate if every other trap we built in was of no use. Teiran's ice and my thorns would be the first barricade for everyone with malicious intent to deal with. That would definitely stop a significant number of people.

The people who work for us are from the towns that surround the safe houses. When we visited this place called Suriva, we explained to the people about our ideas and were greeted with a huge wave of interest and support. The people here help us greatly and just two days ago we received the news that there was a young woman who came bloodstained and freezing late at night begging for help. So we came here to see her.

“Let’s go inside my love” Teiran said and we moved inside.

“My lady, my lord you came. Here the young woman is right behind the corner.” One of the men currently working here told us and showed us the way.

When we came closer we could see a woman with long cheveled brown hair and pink eyes. She was trembling in fear, sitting at the corner of the room. However, at the sight of my purple hair, seemingly as if recognizing me, she jumped right into my arms. I wrapped my arms around her as I was kneeling on the ground.

“Mhm, it’s alright. You are safe here” I tried to calm her down. After a few minutes she visibly calmed down and loosened her grip.

“So would you mind telling me who you are and what happened?”

“I-i am the youngest daughter of Viscounty Adelheid. Tasha Adelheid. I am the bastard daughter of the Viscount, he probably didn’t even register me. He put me in a cell for years and tried to experiment on me since I was the only one of his children that inherited the power to forge objects. You know that Viscounty is known for crafting weaponry right? He made me work in that cell, day and night not giving me enough to eat. Not treating me like a daughter but like a slave. I couldn’t bear it anymore, so I tried to forge it, a weapon that could break the cell and when I finally was able to do that. I ran and ran. As fast as I could until I saw the prospect you put on the bulletin board of this town. I finally saw the chance to escape from this nightmare, someone who could stand against him and believe me! I want to live lady Vermonde. I want to live just like everyone else! Is that too much to ask for?”

Her eyes welled up with tears. I pulled her back into my embrace.

“I believe you, we all here believe you and all these people here are on your side. I promise you, nobody can hurt you here. We will deal with all of that, so you can live the life that you truly deserve!” I gulped down my own tears.

How cruel this life this young woman had to survive through must have been. In constant fear and all she ever wanted was someone to hold her, just like this. For all of these innocent souls that carry such deep wounds. I will heal them step by step until I can see your smile one day. I promise that’s what I want to do as the heir of the lady in the velvet dress, to continue her legacy of helping people in need.

As we stepped out of the safe house, Teiran held onto my hand tightly. I smiled at him.

“Should we start? With our first mission to improve this society?”

“Yes, let's create a place people can call home. So that children like Mica and people like Tasha would never have to feel this type of pain again. So they can live freely and follow their dreams. Let's make sure to see her smile!”

The end