[BL] The Darling Villain

Chapter 20. Would You Like to Serve Under Me?

That night, Willow reminisced her past. What was her life like when she was merely a child... before she met Lucilline, and what her life was like afterwards.

*****

A petal drifted down from a peach blossom tree. The fragrance of sweet and mellow jasmine had danced in the air. A wisp of wind blew, and the leaves shuffled.

There was a young little girl.

Her hair was white, like the feathers of a snowy dove. Her body was small yet agile, and she laid nonchalantly underneath the peach blossom tree. It was spring. The animals had all revealed themselves from their hibernation spots, and fled to enjoy the radiance of the sun.

Willow was of no exception.

The feeling of the sunlight shining against her skin—it warmed her, and calmed down the waves in her jittery heart. The scent of the peach blossoms had drowned her, it made her stuck in an endless loop of freshness. She had never felt any closer to the skies and earth than now.

"Willow!" A cry erupted from the wooden house nearby.

"Coming!" Willow yelled back.

She flipped up from the ground, and dashed towards her residence. It was a shabby house. The roof were made of wooden planks, but throughout the years, the wood had deteriorated into mere shambles. Willow had to smear moss all over the corners in order to prevent any leakage. Who knows what'll happen during bad weather.

"There you are." A woman in the early 30s had laughed. She was seated in a wooden chair, which croaked ever time she shuffled. "Willow, go check up on your younger brother."

Willow huffed, dissatisfied. "Mother, all you ever care about is him! What about me? I'm your firstborn child!"

Her mother just laughed. "Stop complaining, Willow. At least, your younger brother goes to visit the orchard and picks a few fruits to bring back home. Look at you—" She paused, with her eyes scanning on the frail little girl. "All you know to do everyday is just lying around under the tree. If I wasn't your mother, I might've thought that you were raised by tree fairies."

"Thanks."

Her mother's voice turned stern. "That wasn't a compliment!"

Willow had inherited the white hair from her mother. Although her mother used to be despised and was thought of as a curse due to the weird hair colour, gradually, the villagers understood and no longer looked at her with disrespectful eyes.

Willow understood the conflicts which her mother went through.

She wanted to help. "I can hunt us fish. We will have meat to eat every night!" Willow thought that her idea was perfect.

"Your younger brother is allergic to fish." Her mother rolled her eyes.

Willow, "..." Her perfect idea was shattered in merely one second.

"If you want to be helpful, go and fetch your younger brother back!" Her mother sighed. "I've cut some honey dew for the both of you. When you come back, eat the honey dew together with your brother."

At the mention of honey dew, Willow leaped up in excitement. "Yay! I love eating whatever mother makes!" She danced around the house, twirling around the tables and chairs.