The Sacrifice- I
***The events in the following chapter are in the past***
"... Watch the stars together..."
"... Hmmm...."
"Raina?"
" Not...yet.."
The girl with curled black hair lowered her face in somewhat of a sulking manner.
"Be patient Clara..." Raina told the sulking girl taking her hand in hers.
"Then..can I atleast kiss you?" The woman named Clara moved forward puckering up her face.
Raina kissed her own fingers and pressed them to her lips instead while giggling "for now, this will do haha"
"This isn't fair.." The girl started sulking again to which Raina moved forward and kissed her cheek instead.
"Just you wait till we get married, I'm not going to let you off that easily" Clara threatened with a smug little smile.
" Ah, I should get home before they notice I'm not there" Raina looked up at the stars, sometimes she had this look on her face, an incomprehensible look that made her appear quite far from reach. Clara often noticed it and would inevitably stare at this beautiful human in awe.
"Just...stay here and tell them that you were doing homework with a classmate as usual.... " Clara Hughes tried to make her stay with excuses, just a moment longer would do...
Her time with this girl always seemed so short that she couldn't help but want to act spoiled...
It's just she always felt that Raina would slip out of her reach one day....the closer they were, the further she felt...
Clara didn't understand her.... Raina wouldn't let anyone understand her either....
She'd always escape right before the moment....
"Can't do, last time Josh almost got in trouble while covering for me... " Raina smiled at her.
" Right Right, all you ever do is worry about that guy, am I more important or is he?" Clara started sulking yet again.
" Haha, you're jealous of him, again?" Raina messed up Clara's hair whilst giggling though all Clara did was pout.
"Besides, master has already fixed Josh's marriage..his days with me are limited now..."
" Heh, sounds nice, then that means you won't have to worry about him anymore and we can get married too" Clara cheered up a bit.
" Silly, I'll always worry about him since he's my only family but yes once he's in a good household, I'll be able to live in peace" Raina laughed a bit.
" Hopefully it happens soon" Clara looked happier now. She'd already planned so many things for her and Raina.
"Say..Clara?" Raina stared at the stars again gently swinging her legs back and forth, splashing the water of the pond while she was sitting at the wooden edge.
"Hmm?" Clara looked at her,there it was, an unfamiliar distant gaze on her face again.
"...if one day I were to disappear... Can you protect all those whom I'd left behind?" Raina's words in that moment sent chills down Clara's spine.
"Raina!" She somewhat glared at the girl.
"Kidding kidding" Raina brushed it off though her expression went dead serious again in a little
"Josh is the only family I have in this world, we might not be biologically related but we've been together since birth..if one day I am unable to be by his side anymore...can you protect him for me?"
Clara knew Raina was serious on this even though normally all she did was crack jokes and avoid serious talk.
Clara nodded.
"Your family is my family"
Clara replied to which Raina interlocked her pinky with Clara's
"It's a promise then" Raina smiled widely " Don't go back on your promise okay!?"
"I won't silly" Clara smiled as well.
"Ah, I'm leaving, I'm leaving" Raina made a run.
As usual Clara was in awe watching this girl jump away in slow but steady steps, it was as if Raina's feet never touched the ground while she walked, as if she'd always been flying....
Clara always assumed that if she wasn't human then she'd probably be a nymph....
"Ah..." She turned halfway through her little run and smiled brightly back at Clara...to which Clara's face flushed up, her heart started beating against her chest as if it was trying to break out of the ribcage and chase this beautiful nymph...
"I love you"
************Time skip ************
"No...what?"
Raina's expression was covered in horror, she clenched her fists on her thighs while sitting on the ground with a bent head.
"What didn't you hear me clearly?" The man repeated himself.
" Master, please reconsider....he can't-" Raina spoke in a pleading tone.
"What did you say? " The man somewhat glared at the girl who shivered and simply bowed her head in compliance.
Once she came out of the chambers, the red headed boy was waiting outside for her, looking really depressed and worried.
She quickly fixed her expression and went to put him in a neck lock
"Heh, what are you doing here huh? You're so excited to leave me that you can't wait to hear news about your marriage? "
Raina teased him with a cheerful expression. She was capable of hiding her emotions well.
"Ehh never, I was just worried why master called you suddenly! " Josh argued a little with her , trying to get out of her grip.
"We're planning on the ceremony you idiot, now now don't hide your excitement! " Raina teased him so much he ran away with a flustered face.
Only then the fake smile vanished from her face and she made a run, getting out of the mansion somehow.
She kept running until she'd calmed down.
She got herself a ride on the way and took to the road.
She needed to calm down, if she wouldn't...then how'd she settle this all?
She had to do something....
"Open the door! Open the-"
Raina frantically banged at the door of the Hughes mansion... waking up the maids too.
They opened the door in a hurry, Clara Hughes also stepped out in her night suit being worried out of her head...
The moment Raina saw Clara, she broke into tears to the other girl's surprise.
All Clara could do was take her into arms and console her until she'd let it all out.
"Here... Drink" Clara put a cup of tea infront of Raina "Have you calmed down?"
Raina was sitting infront of the table with swollen eyes. She'd cried alot.
"What happened?" Clara asked reaching her hand and putting it onto Raina's hand out of worry.
Raina stayed quiet.
"Does it have something to do with Josh?" Clara asked since that could be the only thing that could ever make Raina like this.
Raina puckered up yet again and Clara was now affirmative that it had something to do with him.
Raina took out an injection from the sash around the waist of her gown. She placed it on the table.
"What's this?" Clara asked with a confused face.
"It's a drug to induce heat, it increases your chances of fertility" Raina replied, to which Clara's eyes widened.
"Why do you have it?" Clara asked.
"They want him to use that tomorrow infront of the next heir of Strauss family..." Raina spoke whilst shivering " He's apparently going to do a 'trial breeding'..."
Clara gave it a thought " Isn't he supposed to get married to that heir?"
Raina got mad at Clara for saying something like that
" You make love when you're married! This is breeding! What that guy wants is something to breed with! Are we cattles?!"
" Raina calm down... that's not what I meant" Clara tried to calm her down but Raina was already angry.
" Besides...a worker from that house told me that this current heir of Strauss family had seven partners, all of whom didn't live long because of either drug use or the punishments given by the family! What proof is there that this guy isn't the same!" Raina went off at Clara.
" Raina calm down first ..." Clara tried to reason with her over it.
"I'm not going to calm down! You wouldn't understand...
....Afterall you're an alpha! "
Raina turned away and ran out leaving her tea untouched.
Clara also chased after her but as usual, her back was too far from Clara's reach..
All she could do was try and reach her hand but only disappointedly grasped a handful of air...
"...Raina....!"
************Time skip ************
" Strip "
" Huh?"
Both of them stood frozen at this command. The guy before them was exactly like Raina had imagined.
She turned her face to look at Josh who looked completely mortified.
" If I'm going to marry you, I'd atleast like to check the product in advance"
The guy's words gave another shock to Josh that Raina could visibly see upon his face. He looked like he was going to cry.
Yet still with shivering hands, he unbuttoned his shirt, slowly taking it off. The more Raina watched the more she felt her heart tightening.
She looked around at all the servants within the room, none of them were fazed, none cared.
This was humiliating as hell considering he didn't even wait till they were both in private but decided to publicly humiliate him like this.
Raina was shivering with both fear and anger while she watched Josh struggle. He couldn't go past removing the upper garments.
"What are you shy about? Come on"
The guy spoke again to add fuel to fire. Raina could already see the tears that were trying to escape from the corners of Josh's eyes.
"Sir Ivan Strauss, he's not accustomed to that kind of thing so..." Raina ended up intervening even though she was only allowed just as much to bring Josh there and then leave...but for some reason she just couldn't leave him there.
The guy upon hearing her got up from his position and walked towards her.
He lifted her chin
"If he can't do it, then you do it"
Raina gritted her teeth at him, she was fuming with anger yet she undid the sash around her gown to Josh's surprise and from within it, she pulled out an injection, without giving it a second thought, she injected herself with eyes full of rage and disappointment.
"Interesting!" The guy grinned all the way to his ears.
"Leave!" He commanded his people as they emptied the room.
He took the girl's hand pulling her in by the waist.
"Unlock it" He told her and she handed him a key to the collar around her neck, which he took of without a second thought.
The pheromones had surrounded the room.
"What? Do you want to watch?" The guy smirked looking at Josh who was the only one standing there frozen.
"Why don't you give us some privacy Josh?"
Raina said with a light smile as the collar around her neck fell to the ground and the guy lurched at her biting at her neck as her eyes widened with both a cringing pain and a heightened sensation from the heat.
That was it, Josh snapped, he ran out of the room holding his mouth. He couldn't get really far before he threw up near the stables.
"He's so weak haha" The guy giggled to which she grabbed his face by the jaws.
" Don't ever look at him again!! " She spoke with a vicious gaze which excited him, it was like having a wild animal under him.
He could barely with stand the temptation and locked lips with her as his hands slipped into her gown, wandering all over.
He turned her over, face down and bit again at the back of her neck as he loosened his lower garments.
"From now on till your death, you'll belong to me!"
************Time skip ************
" There's another..."
" It's okay, it doesn't matter"
Josh's lips trembled yet he dared not cry infront of her.
"This is all...my fault" He spoke with a trembling voice while she was putting on her makeup, to cover a few bruises here and there.
"Walk me to the aisle will you?" Raina stood up lowering her own veil.
Josh held her hand through this. That was all he could do anyways.
The path was lined with guests that were eager to look at the bride. Whoever looked was strangely in awe..the girl really was as beautiful as everyone who'd seen her claimed her to be...
Josh never let go of her hand even once, she had an unfazed expression on her face but only Josh knew how cold her hands actually were.
She smiled through it like always, if he wasn't holding her hand he would have never been able to tell how much she had been shivering through this whole walk.
The moment Raina stood on the aisle facing this guy before her, she couldn't help but frown a bit.
The priest read the vows to them. She was least attentive, all she had been doing was glaring at him while he had that smug face on.
"Do you Ivan Strauss accept Naoyuki Raina as your lawful wife?"
" I do "
He replied abruptly, without giving it a second thought.
It was Raina's turn now and for some reason her eyes wandered amongst the guests.
"Do you Naoyuki Raina accept Ivan Strauss as your lawful husband?"
She wavered....
A familiar gaze made her do so.....
At a distance from the crowd, in the farthest corner, stood Clara Hughes...
The presence of whom made Raina waver, her heart sank....
All she wanted was to run away from the crowd, break through and get into the arms of this girl....
Though she turned to look at Josh again and her gaze turned empty....
At that moment.... Clara Hughes....she knew well... what her gaze meant and that Naoyuki Raina had made up her mind....
She turned her back towards Naoyuki Raina....
"I do"
************Time skip ************
" No way... !"
Josh looked disgusted...but there was as much Raina could do.
She'd pleaded with the master day and night sitting outside the chamber.
Yet he paid no heed.
" He's just ten...!!" Josh argued with her, she knew it well.
There was only as much as she could do... saving Akio was beyond her...
"The master spared his life, on account that he'll stay to please the young master in a wedlock and give birth to his children, I'm sorry that's all I could do to keep him alive for now..." She told him while almost biting on her own lips...
This was awful....if only she'd done something sooner....
Her dry tone could only fool someone like Josh, inside, her heart was aching in so many ways.....her body was full of bruises and welds that could no longer be hidden by the heaviest of makeups.
What could she do for Akio?
How could she try and save him??
Should she turn to Clara Hughes yet again? No, that would be pretty shameless of her...
" You're telling me to let him marry his own r-p-st!??!!!!" Josh pretty much yelled snapping her out of her inner monologue.
"This is the only way to save his life, listen give me some time , I have a friend she'll help me get Akio out of here somehow but for now keep it down, if the other siblings find out about this, I'll be in trouble"
Raina ended up whispering to Josh.
What was she saying?
It was pathetic... after what she'd done to Clara Hughes, how could she expect her to still help her? Would she even do it?
" Raina... " Josh mumbled and Raina clenched her fists onto her gown again...
No... She had to be shameless... It wasn't about her anymore, she couldn't just sit back and watch a ten year old suffer through this... Even if she had to stoop to her lowest... As long as it saved someone.... She'd do anything.....
" But you have to convince her, I cannot go and meet up with her , if Ivan finds out I met up with another alpha, he'll beat me, besides..."
Raina snapped out and told Josh, she was unsure if Clara would even listen after all this... This was as much as she could do...
She felt a kick and put her hand over her stomach, she'd almost forgotten about this little troublemaker that wouldn't just stop moving restlessly all the time....
It was almost time that she could get him tested for his gender...he had to be an alpha at all costs, otherwise she'd be bringing a child to make him live miserably in this world....
" I need her help with something else too ..."
She yet again broke out of the bubble of her constricted thoughts.
If she were to ask Ivan to get her tested, it would mean that he'd find out about the gender too...no she had to do it secretly.....But she needed an alpha to get tested...
....someone who'd put their name in as the parent...
....Her own name didn't matter.....
"Who do I have to meet"
"Her name is Clara Hughes"
************Time skip ************
"Sorry for the wait"
She'd entered the room and realized who it was right away. She had seen him before at a certain wedding... walking a certain bride....
Though that wasn't the only reason she knew...
Those red hair and light eyes that appeared grey in shade but pale yellowish brown in light...
This guy was Naoyuki Joshua....
She knew that description well...after all...he was all she ever talked about...
All her conversations ever started from Josh and ended on Josh...there was no way she wouldn't recognize this guy....
She assembled her skirt before sitting down infront of him.
"Raina sent you right? How's she doing? I haven't seen her since she got married, how's life for her? "
She had too many questions, she couldn't control herself....
Ever since that time, she had secluded herself into study, she hadn't left the house for long. All she'd done was to stay within books to keep her mind occupied and to stop herself from thinking about it...
She hadn't shed a single tear.... she'd promised herself not to....
It was Raina's decision...all she could do was respect it...
" About that..."
Hearing the whole story from Josh made her more horrified then ever, why didn't she stop Raina in the first place????
If only she'd walked on that aisle that day and pulled her away...
"I see, so she married in your place and is now expecting but her husband is abusive"
She got a bit bashful towards this guy without realizing it ..she was burning up inside, though she had to maintain a patient facade...
What had Raina done to herself.....even in this moment when she needs someone to save her... she's trying to save another....
Why can't this girl just be selfish for once???!!!
Why can't Raina just ask her for help... she'd probably do anything at Raina's single command....why?
"I shouldn't have let her do this...I should've been the one... she's saved me so many times, I can't even-" Josh's voice cracked up, Clara Hughes could barely control it herself and now hearing this guy break down before her....
" I will help her" She spoke without a second thought... She had to...
Even though she was really mad at Raina.. but she couldn't deny her as always... Afterall... It showed that Raina could ever turn to Clara when it came to being a little selfish....
"What about the boy?" Josh asked and Clara gave it a thought...
By the sound of it, a ten year old...it didn't look like it would work but the guy before her looked desperate..
"Akio kun was it? I'll arrange for him too but getting out of there depends upon him, it'll take alot of courage to run, can he do it?" Clara asked, though she already knew the answer...
There was only as much as she could do even if Raina expected something beyond it.
Seeing the guy become silent...she knew she was right. Helping that child was beyond her right now...
But looking at him again she'd realized that he had a strange habit of biting the skin of his fingers while he was in deep thought...
It showed how much those thoughts tormented him.
"It's okay I'll help him when he's ready, for now I need to help Raina, is that okay?" Clara Hughes said in order to distract him so that he'd stop biting off his own skin, the corners were already damaged enough.
He just ended up nodding.
"What about you?" Clara asked him.
This was the guy that Raina gave up everything for.....what made him so special? She wondered....
"What about me?" He looked perplexed and she was determined ...
...this guy, he doesn't care about himself either.....then why...?
"You want Raina's baby to make it out of that hell, you want to help that boy Akio..what about you, don't you want to make it out?" She asked him just to confirm something.
He became silent for a moment and lowered his head.
"It's okay" he mumbled rather with a smiling face which made her a bit surprised....what was that expression?
"As long as the people I care about make it through, I'd have no regrets" He spoke with a lightly red tinted face and a smile...
She blinked a bit, being somewhat unexpressive for a little and then she smiled at this beautiful redheaded boy infront of her as well.
"You're kind"
She whispered, this guy.....he was different....
Raina had always been a strong woman, she gave off that aura, the aura that she'd always protect the ones she'd loved...an aura of independence....she was a free soul that wasn't bound to anyone yet she would protect anyone under her wing..
Him? He was weak...he invoked the natural desires of people to protect him... unlike Raina he gave off that aura that would make others want to take him under their wings
...she could understand Raina a bit....
..... not that Clara could say it infront of him....
"Ah...one more thing" he stopped right before he was going to exit the door.
" Raina told me to convey a message, not that I understand it though.."
Clara tilted her head in confusion.
" She asked you to remember the promise you made with her" Josh said , those words made her freeze in her spot.
"That's it, I'll take my leave"
'...if one day I were to disappear... Can you protect all those whom I'd left behind?'
She remembered those words and clenched her chest tightly. Josh had left by then...
Little by little, droplets stained the wooden floor...
She hadn't shed a single tear ever since that day.....
But that one time, she really couldn't keep those banks from flooding all over her heart.....
She clenched her chest and screamed out in pain, letting her tears drip all over the floor as she voiced her sadness out....
"You're so cruel Raina!"
**********Time skip ************
" Ah I'll walk you out"
" Ah Sir Joshua, master has asked for your presence"
The maid stood in Josh's way, who looked at Raina. She placed her hand on his shoulder, assuring him that she can go on her own.
On her way out, she looked back at Josh many times, until he'd turned away.
Though half the way, her paths crossed with a familiar lady.
Clara Hughes was dressed in a formal traditional wear.
She and Raina exchanged a glance, it was almost as if Raina whispered those two words whilst walking past her
'I'm sorry'
That made Clara's heart tighten up...
She painfully walked past her...
Reaching the chambers, her maids opened the doors for her as she stepped in looking at that guy's back...
Unlike Raina, she could feel his back well within her reach, the more she walked up closer, the nearer she felt to him...
She sat down next to him with folded legs and made a slight greeting bowing her head. Her maids sat behind her.
"I, the sole heir of Hughes family, present my greetings to the master of the house"
She spoke with a firm voice and the guy next to her turned his head in a shock.
"Naoyuki Joshua, I would like to ask for your hand in marriage"
**********Time skip ************
" Wait!"
Joshua ran upto her and grabbed her wrist from behind to which her maids reacted rather defensively.
She stopped them and excused them to give her some time alone with this guy.
The two stood on little bridge under which the bright stream of water sparkled under the moonlight.
The reflection of the moon in the pond made the place appear brighter than it actually was.
"What are you doing?" He asked her.
"Trying to go home and sleep?" She answered.
"You know that's not what I mean! What's with that sudden marriage thing...?! " He looked completely puzzled.
" What do you mean? I'm at an age where I'd like to get married, running a family alone is quite lonely"She replied to which he got further confused.
"Do you... want children...?" He asked letting go of her wrist looking rather irritated.
"Well ofcourse I want children, who doesn't?" Her reply made her look disappointed.
" How much did you pay them?" He asked clutching tightly onto the corners of his clothing, she'd noticed it.
He had a familiar look of disappointment on his face... something an alpha like her was told she'd never understand...
"You make love when you're married" Clara Hughes said to his surprise, she'd remembered those words well...it was hard to get them out of her mind anyways.
"Are we cattles?"
She said yet again, Josh didn't get what she was talking about.
"Is what someone said to me once"
She completed her sentence.
"Eh?" Josh didn't get it.
" Yes, I want children because I love children..no, I'm not marrying solely for having children, I'll make love to you with the intention of loving you, comforting you and protecting you"
She spoke gently as the beautiful curls of her hair danced along with the breeze.
His face turned red till his ears, he looked really flustered
"Wha you....I...mea...tha....."
He stumbled on his own words so much that they were incomprehensible.
She thought it was kinda really cute watching him all embarrassed like that...
He ended up running off covering his face with his arm, even fell half way through, got up and kept running....
Clara turned to the reflection of the moon in the water and watched the stars next to it....
She dared not look up at the same sky that Raina often looked at...
She was afraid she wouldn't understand its vastness either way....
It was way out of her reach...
Just this little moon with a handful of stars floating on the surface of this little sky on the ground....was within her reach...
"....I'll love the man that you've protected with your whole life... protect what you've left behind....."
She extended her hand grasping onto the reflection of those stars...
".....that'll be my way to acknowledge your sacrifice...."