I was born a royal princess.
Her earliest memory was the white crib, covered with pillars topped with silk, and decorated with pink ribbons, and filled with soft stuffed animals and beautiful dolls. She quickly learned that if she opened her mouth to scream, her parents would rush to her to pick her up and calm her fear.
Visitors from the village, from the humblest to the most prominent, would come especially to see her, with their knowledge of their great leader's love for his little daughter. But only a few of them were allowed to hold her.
They would stare at her as she lay on her bed, amazed by the ordinary features of her face, which bore no resemblance to the beauty of her fairy mother renowned for her captivating beauty that enslaved the hearts of all who beheld her,With the exception of her emerald eyes! Except for her mother's eyes, she didn't resemble her mother in anything, nor even her handsome father.
Whispers of mockery and envy circulated among them : " She doesn't even resemble her father. It's hard to have all the luck in the world, with wealth and beauty like the master and mistress and their eldest son."
Until the whispers reached the sensitive ears of their leader, Alpha the wolf. He ordered the permanent cessation of multiple visits by guests without invitation or occasion.
Her father used to take walks with her in the garden of their castle despite being busy with office matters, and he makes her touch the flowers, then tells her," The flowers are beautiful, my princess, but you are more beautiful than them.""
Caroline felt overwhelming happiness because of her father's sweet words as she watched her mother and her brother, who was four years older than her, planting rose seedlings. She enjoyed it even more when her father lifted her high with his strong arms and spun her in the air..."One day a strong and clever wolf prince will come to carry you and take you far above the clouds.""
"But I don't want to go with the prince above the clouds, I want to live with my father here forever.""
Her father looks at her with pure paternal pride, "Anyone who doesn't know you would think you're a princess. No! you're an angel angel .""
Her mother warned him: "You shouldn't fill her head with all these qualities, my dear. She will think she is better than everyone else when she grows up. I'm afraid she will become arrogant and difficult to deal with."
Her mother worried that her father's over-the-top praise would corrupt her and make her arrogant and haughty. Her mother, a traditionalist, always adhered to the codes of conduct and ethics of genuine nobility, with humility as the cornerstone.
But neither her father's prophecies nor her mother's expectations came true.
On her fifth birthday, the grand ballroom was filled with guests, and then the hall was decorated with amaryllis flowers, which her mother had specially chosen for this occasion to symbolize something beyond beauty and purity.
Caroline listened to the orchestra for the first time and fell in love with music on the stringed instrument with four strings, the violin. She asked her father for a violin teacher, and he brought her one of the best teachers from the capital.
At the age of nine, Caroline excelled in playing her favorite piece, The Four Seasons, on the violin, and her father added the title of "Genius" to her name. Her world was a rosy dream of ships, palaces, and a promised prince, but fate had other plans.
At the age of ten, her entire family died in a tragic orchestrated accident on their way back to the castle from a charity event.
The villagers of the Proud Cubs of Light clan were in a state of outrage and shock over the brutal death of their leader, whose limbs were torn apart and head severed, while his fairy wife, envied by most werewolf women for her beauty, had her body drained of blood and head cut off, And the son, at fourteen springs, had his body disfigured, his liver and intestines removed, and his hands and feet cut off. The villagers were outraged over the suspicious death of their kind leader and demanded revenge, with many suspecting that one of the rival clans was responsible for the assassination of their peace-loving leader.
Which led to an emergency meeting of the village's small council, and after consulting the elders, Godfrey, the elder brother of the former leader, was elected to leadership. Godfrey Beta became the Alpha leader of Light cubs. He possessed a smooth and cunning tongue, quick to use tricks and deception to achieve his goals. He had a high ability to influence others and change their opinions, especially among the hot-blooded youth.
At the beginning, he delivered an emotional speech about his brother's achievements and promised to investigate the incident, seek revenge, and take retribution—blood for blood. Whoever was responsible would receive their due according to the werewolf customs. He vowed to follow in the footsteps of his brave brother with a big heart in defending and protecting the people of the village of Serseuz and maintaining safety and peace. At his brother's funeral, Godfrey committed to carrying out the ceremonies properly and even more so.First day: Conducting burial rituals and placing the deceased in their grave. Second day: Holding memorial ceremonies and offering human and animal sacrifices, presenting gifts such as jewelry and weapons to the spirit of the deceased.
There were objections to human sacrifices not for any reason of their own, but because their leader, unlike other tribes, prohibited and criminalized the killing and enslavement of humans. He believed that everyone was born free from their mothers wombs. By offering humans as sacrifices, Godfrey was laying the groundwork for his next steps to change the laws set by his beloved brother.
On the third day, he held an outdoor hunting feast in honor of his brother and to commemorate his memory. And it's not just any ordinary hunting banquet , where werewolves can hunt animals as usual.This time, the prey are the werewolves in the dungeons, who committed the crime of hunting humans during his brother's reign. Godfrey set rules for the hunting game, where the werewolf prey are chained with silver chains that prevent them from transforming into vicious wolves. They must escape from the forest guards"the soldiers" and reach the Virgin's Rock at the river's confluence to be freed from their prison and gain their freedom.
Wine spread along with dishes of fresh meat, and the noise and excitement turned the third day, which was supposed to be a day of prayer to the moon gods for the deceased to peacefully cross from the underworld to the spirit world and meet their ancestors and relatives, into a celebration of chaos and thrill, with bets on who would die and who would survive among the unlucky prisoners against the forest guards. The organization of extreme and dangerous competitions and games has become an event that some condemn while others support, those who feel bored with the quiet life share the same interests with corrupt nobles led by Godfrey.
People quickly returned to the aged wine called peace, which they had drunk over the years, and the words "revenge" and "war" became bitter on their lips. Then they forgot their leader's incident as a cloud forgets its shadow.
Caroline was deeply shocked by the sudden death of her family. She lost consciousness upon seeing their dismembered and mutilated bodies in the coffin after her aunt Rasta insisted she look at them one last time. She lost her speech for two whole years, and with her uncle Godfrey taking power, she lost her place in this world. She was no longer her father's angel but a fallen angel from heaven to hell.
A week hadn't passed since her family's death, and then she was moved from her spacious room filled with warm memories to a very small room with simple limestone walls and a wooden ceiling. The room was located next to the kitchen, Without windows, which makes the room reek of strong cooking and food odors, and then replacing Caroline's large bed as well, adorned with roses and golden flowers and covered with a pristine white silk sheet and a feather pillow.With a bed covered in an old and worn-out sheet, and a pillow covered in rough, uncomfortable fabric that is also very heavy, making it difficult to move or transport.
Caroline cried that night in the dark, decaying room until her tears dried up, and a thousand memories invaded her mind and heart. Caroline is sitting in her mother's lap next to the cypress tree. Her mother is playing with her dark brown hair and reciting poetic verses: "Spring comes with its enchanting beauty, calling out with its vibrant colors, scattering flowers on the green earth, filling the air with the scent of blossoms, and the butterflies' love for the flowers is nobler than a lover's love."
Then Caroline was imprisoned and prevented from leaving, and the servants within the castle walls were replaced with human slaves. She began her work as a maid for her uncle's family from sunrise until late at night, washing clothes, washing dishes, tidying and cleaning the castle, and taking care of the garden. Caroline could not keep up with all the work or perform the cleaning duties well because, being a noble, her fingers had never touched cold water but rather the strings of a violin.
Her aunt's wife, Rasta, took on the role of disciplining and adapting Caroline to her new life. The first responsibility she took upon herself was treating her mutism. She would call Caroline every three days and order her to kneel and expose her hands so she could insert sewing needles into her arms or heat a metal rod and press it against her back, entering a state of hysterical ecstasy from the pleasure of watching Caroline cry, her body shaking from the fire of pain, moaning in agony, unable to scream or defend her weak body, and when the pain became unbearable, Caroline tried to escape from the continuous torment of Rasta.
Her older brother Erin would sometimes escape through a secret opening in the back wall of the castle, hidden by dense bushes, to play in the forest or meet his friends... Caroline decided to escape through this opening. Unfortunately, Selene spotted her attempting to escape and ordered the guards to apprehend her.
Her uncle Godfrey ordered the servants to block the hole in the wall and then had Caroline suspended by her legs from a rope tied to a tree as punishment for her failed escape attempt, where she received thirty lashes until she lost consciousness. A bucket of cold water was poured over her slender body, filled with new red wounds and bruised with old white and brown scars in some places. Her small body trembled from the pain and dizziness.
Godfrey spat on her and looked at her with disgust, saying, "" I'll give you a little souvenir, so you'll remember me every time your tiny, insignificant mind thinks of escaping, you daughter of a whore." Then he ordered the guard to pull out her toenails
Caroline changed radically after this incident. Fear was instilled in her bones and anxiety and stress became her constant companion.
All her nobility and dignity crumbled under the weight of her uncle's cart, as she bent down for him to place his heavy foot on her back, trampling her and getting off his cart.It became known to the new servants that she was the family's dog and her life was lower than that of the human boy who served the wine, even lower than the ladybug clinging to the garden grass.
As the years passed, Caroline became accustomed to pain and service, and was never her father's princess again.