I was curled up in the little cabin, my body feeling drained, my whole body chilled.
With a "bang," the wooden door was violently kicked open, and Kaelen, with his two lackeys Jorik and Finn, barged in.
"Look, I said this freak wasn't dead yet," Jorik grinned.
Finn exaggeratedly rubbed his arms: "Heard you're always sickly on a full moon night, you little bastard? Pathetic."
I cowered further into the corner, wrapping my shawl tighter.
Kaelen strode forward and kicked over the bowl of cold porridge in front of me, which Willow had secretly given me that morning.
He grabbed my only old shawl and sneered, "My hounds need a mat."
"Give it back!" I croaked.
"I won't!" Kaelen provocatively dangled the shawl. "What, you gonna curse me? Little bastard!"
I looked up, my violet-blue eyes fixed on him: "If you dare give it to the dogs, beware, it will turn into a skinless toad by morning."
The smile froze on Kaelen's face.
"Forget it, Kaelen... Let's go," Finn swallowed. "Her strange violet-blue eyes... make me uncomfortable."
"What are you afraid of? A half-dead mongrel!" Kaelen said, but he still clutched my shawl and led them away.
The next day, Finn was dead.
Willow rushed into the kitchen, her face pale: "Aila... Finn he... he's dead! He... he tripped on his own bone knife, and the knife instantly plunged into his heart," her voice trembled like a sieve. "But what's more terrifying is that his entire skin was peeled off!"
My hand trembled, and the pot crashed to the ground.
"Be careful!" The steward slapped me on the head.
"Aila? Are you okay?" Willow looked at me worriedly.
"I'm fine," I continued scrubbing the pot with a blank expression. "Maybe he just wasn't watching where he was going."
Could the rumors be true?
Everyone said I cursed Finn. In the afternoon, an enraged Kaelen found me in the backyard.
"You did this, didn't you?!" He punched me in the stomach.
Just as he was about to throw a second punch, Willow rushed forward and blocked me: "Stop, Young Master Kaelen! The physician said it was an accident!"
"Get lost! You have no right to speak, a mere kitchen servant!"
Willow was undaunted. "She was with me all night, I can testify!"
"An accident?" Kaelen said, trembling. "You call that death an accident? Yesterday this freak even cursed my dog to become a skinless toad!"
"That doesn't mean Aila did it!?" Willow's voice was filled with anger.
"Hmph, a freak who can't even shapeshift," Kaelen sneered. "Everyone knows her mother was a witch of unknown origin! She was born a cursed bastard!"
"Lady Lina is not a witch!" Willow's voice trembled. "And if it weren't for her, you would have died long ago!"
"You dare lecture me?" Kaelen raised his hand, intending to hit Willow too.
"If you dare lay another finger on Aila, I will go to the council hall to seek justice from Alpha and the elders!" Willow fearlessly stared into Kaelen's eyes and shouted. "Let's see how Alpha's son slanders his own half-sister!"
Kaelen's face turned ashen, and more and more clan members gathered around.
"You... you two just wait!" He finally gritted out, leaving dejectedly like a defeated rooster.
A few days later, the steward sent Willow and me to the market to buy supplies.
"Don't worry, Aila," Willow said softly, sensing my unease as we walked. "I'll be with you all the way."
I smiled gratefully at her.
We walked with our heads down, hurrying through the crowds of hurried warriors and worried clan members.
We quickly headed for the herb stall. Kaelen and Jorik blocked our way. Kaelen's arm was in a sling, wrapped in bandages.
"Out spreading bad luck again?" Kaelen sneered.
I couldn't be bothered to reply and turned to leave, but he grabbed me.
"Stop!" He grabbed my arm with his uninjured hand. "I'm talking to you!"
"Let me go!"
"Let you go?" he sneered. "If it weren't for you, how would we have been ambushed by those northern bastards?! My arm wouldn't have broken while escaping!"
He shoved me hard, and I stumbled backward, spilling everything from the basket.
Just as Kaelen was about to continue humiliating me, a voice came from behind him.
"Young Master Kaelen, has your wound reopened? Do you need me to take a look?" Willow said with a smile, then lowered her voice. "Also, Physician Ilian was just looking for you, saying you needed a dressing change. If he finds out you're yelling here..."
"Don't try to scare me with that old geezer!" Kaelen shouted, pointing at me. "It's all her fault, this cursed monster! Finn is dead, and the border warriors are dead too! Who will be next? You, or me?!"
"If I could really curse people," I said coldly, getting up. "Why don't I just curse the entire Northern Wolf Tribe to annihilation? Then you wouldn't have to fight."
Whispers erupted from the crowd, and Kaelen's face instantly turned as red as a pig's liver. Just as he was about to erupt.
"Young Master Kaelen," Physician Ilian's voice arrived. "It seems your injuries have recovered quite well. Truly reassuring."
"Phy... Physician Ilian." Kaelen lowered the hand he had just raised.
"Just half an hour ago, you were crying from the pain. I thought you'd need to stay in bed for a few days, but I didn't expect you to recover so quickly and even be able to supervise the work of two maids. It seems I underestimated your recovery ability."
"You got me!" He glared at us fiercely and pushed through the crowd in embarrassment, fleeing.
Physician Ilian watched his retreating figure, shook his head, bent down, picked up the berries at his feet, and put them back into my basket.
"You two, hurry back too," he told us. "This is no place to linger."
"Thank you, Physician," Willow and I said in unison.
Back in the kitchen, Lillian was already waiting.
The steward almost knelt, offering a humble kiss to the back of Lillian's hand. "My esteemed Luna, what wind has brought you to this filthy place?"
"Nothing much," Lillian said with a smile, withdrawing her hand and wiping it with a handkerchief as if disgusted. "Just came to check on the clan's dinner."
Her gaze fell on a basket containing apples. "Are these... apples?"
"Yes, Luna. We just bought them from the market today," the kitchen steward replied nervously.
"Oh?" Lillian's brow furrowed slightly. "I recall I seem to have mentioned that my least favorite fruit is apples. Their mediocre taste annoys me."
The kitchen steward shivered with fear, breaking into a cold sweat. "It... it's my oversight, Luna! I'll have them thrown away immediately!"
"Don't rush," Lillian's voice remained gentle. "I'm just curious, which clever child was responsible for today's shopping?"
The kitchen steward, as if granted amnesty, pointed at Willow and me. "It was them! Luna! It was Aila and Willow!"
Lillian's gaze finally settled on me. She picked up an apple with dirt on it and slowly walked towards me.
"Aila," she said softly. "It seems you not only fail to learn your duties but also can't remember my preferences. Truly a... forgetful child."
She suddenly reached out, roughly grabbed my chin, and shoved the cold, hard, dirty apple into my mouth.
"Eat it," she commanded. "Since you like it so much, eat it all."
The earthy, fishy taste and the apple's bitterness exploded in my mouth. I was forced to swallow, choking until tears streamed down my face. She wasn't satisfied and gestured to a maid beside her to punch me in the abdomen. I immediately fell to my knees, coughing violently.
"You filthy, cursed thing!" Her voice turned sharp. "Your very existence is the greatest insult to me! Admit it! Admit that Finn died because of your curse! Admit that you are an ill-omened disaster!"
"I'm not!" I gritted out from between my teeth, raising my head to glare at her.
"You still dare to glare at me?" She was enraged by my gaze and raised her foot to kick me.
"Stop!" Willow once again rushed forward, shielding me.
"You again?" Lillian looked at Willow, her smile vanishing. "It seems simple punishment is ineffective on you."
She signaled to the maid behind her. A maid walked to the stove and pulled out a red-hot branding iron from the fire.
"Willow, since you like protecting this little bastard so much, you will personally brand the mark of a 'curser' on her face."
Everyone gasped.
"No... No! Luna! I can't!" Willow trembled all over, backing away repeatedly.
"Aila! Hurry up and admit it! Apologize to Luna!" The kitchen steward was so scared she almost fainted, fearing it would lead to death.
"Apologize?" I coughed up blood and sneered. "I did nothing wrong! If my curse can truly come true, I'll curse you first! I curse you to die tonight and be torn apart by wild dogs!"
"You're courting death!" My words completely enraged Lillian. She snatched the branding iron from the maid and walked towards me.
"No!" Willow once again spread her arms, stubbornly blocking me, her eyes closed.
"Fine, very good," Lillian looked at Willow blocking her. "Since you like sticking up for her so much, you can take her place."
She suddenly moved, grabbed Willow's chin, and forced her mouth open.
"Ah!"
A piercing scream echoed throughout the kitchen. A terrible smell of burning flesh filled the air.
I watched in horror as Lillian thrust the red-hot branding iron onto Willow's tongue.
Willow collapsed to the ground in agony, blood flowing from her mouth, unable to make any sound.
"She's always arguing with Young Master Kaelen. That mouth is useless anyway," the maid beside her giggled.
Lillian threw the branding iron to the ground with a grating sound.
She walked to Willow and gently tidied her slightly messy hair.
"Willow, you are such a good child," she said softly, grasping Willow's arm. "Always so concerned about Aila. Since you like taking care of others so much, I think the little darlings in the kennel must really need your care."
Her hand, though seemingly gentle, dug its nails fiercely into Willow's forehead.
"Go, throw her into the kennel." Lillian's expression instantly turned cold from a smile.
"No... Don't..." I crawled over, trying to grab Willow's hand, but was kicked away by a maid.
I watched as Lillian's tall maid dragged Willow away like a dead dog, leaving a shocking bloodstain on the ground.
My face instantly lost all color, my body trembling like a fallen leaf. "No... Luna, please..."
Luna left the kitchen with the maids without looking back.
Willow being thrown into the kennel... it was tantamount to a death sentence for her.