Chapter Text
Once upon a time, there existed a kingdom called Fontaine somewhere in the world.
At one point in time, the kingdom consisted only of human beings, until Queen Focalors rose to power.
Queen Focalors was different from her ancestors, as she had non human blood in her veins. She had the heritage of an Oceanid.
Dragons, Vishaps, Oceanids, and Melusines were among the other native races of Fontaine. After much effort, the queen integrated these other races into her kingdom's society, fully uniting Fontaine.
However, not everyone celebrated the queen's success, and that is where this story begins.
There existed in Fontaine a family of nobles who ran the Spina di Rosula, a famous business group in Fontaine, run by the Caspar family.
Originally, it was owned and run by Callas, and his wife Clementine. At one point in time, Clementine gave birth to their daughter, Navia.
Growing up, Navia was a kind and innocent girl who was cheerful and compassionate. For many years, her family lived happily.
However, things changed when Navia was ten years old. Her father was involved in an accident, which resulted in his passing. His business was since handed to his wife.
Still, under her mother's care, Navia grew up cheerful and kind. But her mother felt that she would need a father's love.
Eventually, Clementine met Vacher, who had lost his wife Vigniere to mysterious circumstances, and the two married. Vacher had three children from his previous marriage, twins Lyney and Lynette and their younger brother Freminet, all of them younger than Navia.
Navia treated them like her own family, helping their nanny Arlecchino care for them, as they each had a weak constitution, just like Vigniere did.
However, it wasn't long before Vacher's true nature was revealed.
Navia was the first to discover it when she found some mysterious letters on her stepfather's desk. They were letters to a terrorist group called Sinthe, who were against the mingling of different races in Fontaine.
Turns out, Vigniere was an adventurer who had contracted a rare disease after coming in contact with contaminated waters, called Blue Shadow Virus (Clone Wars reference), something that only dragons and vishaps could fight and eradicate.
When Vigniere first caught the virus, it was still active. By the time the disease was eradicated, Vigniere was dead, as her weak constitution failed to let her hold on until a cure was found after her death.
Vacher proved to still be obsessed over his previous wife, leaving his children in the care of a nanny and neglecting them. The Sinthe, wanting an insider to help them with their schemes against the unified kingdom, offered to find a way to revive Vigniere in return for him helping them.
Thus, he had married Clementine for her property. Knowing his true nature, Clementine had wanted to divorce him, but was threatened into compliance, with Vacher threatening to hurt Navia should she try anything.
Navia's home basement was turned into a hideout for the Sinthe, and Clementine was forced to keep this a secret, as were the children.
Out of everyone though, Navia suffered the worst of the new lifestyle. While her mother and stepsiblings were of use to Vacher or reminded him of Vigniere, Navia was of no such value to him.
Navia was forced into becoming a scullery maid in her own household, always the victim of her stepfather's abusive words and violence. Even her mother and family members could not keep her safe.
When Navia was out in public to do shopping and the like, she dressed and acted like nothing was wrong, wearing pretty clothes and always bearing a smile on her face.
But the truth behind this facade was that Navia became a completely different person. No longer was she the cheerful and innocent girl she once was.
She never smiled nor laughed, and never made eye contact. She rarely spoke, and the few times she did, she spoke softly and in as little words as possible. She would often have crying episodes when she was alone, and took her stepfather's abuse silently and obediently.
Navia became a shadow of who she once was. Her mother longed for her to become the happy girl she was before, but as the years went by, Navia became more and more hopeless as she gave in to her stepfather's constant abuse.
Navia had thought that things were never going to become happy again, but all that changed when she was 24 years old.