Familial Bond Fantasy-Kurzgeschichten & Bias-Kurzromane

I get injured thanks to my mount trampling over me during the hunting rite. When I get sent back to Aureveil Citadel by my follower, Caelum Dawnmere, the strongest general in Auremount as well as my fiance, is currently dancing with my younger sister, Elara Aureveil, on the altar. My parents, Aldric Aureveil and Vaelis Sorenwyn, as well as my older brother, Darren Aureveil, surround Elara happily as they celebrate the fact that she has become the Sacred Huntress of Aureveil. My follower asks to meet with the Aureveils multiple times, seeing as she wishes to inform them of my injury. But all of her requests are denied ruthlessly on the spot. In fact, Caelum even tells my follower to send me a message. "Stop being dramatic, Sylara. Today is Elara's first time holding the title of the Sacred Huntress of Auremount. You can tell me whatever it is that you want to tell me after the ceremony is over." I no longer ask my follower to tell my family or Caelum anything. Since then, I calmly allow the healers to continue healing me. This is their 99th time abandoning me for Elara's sake. That's why I'm abandoning them as well. I no longer fight with Elara over any titles of glory. In fact, I go along with every order they give me. Finally, I become the perfect princess who doesn't fight with anyone over anything. But what my family and Caelum don't know is that I will be leaving them permanently.

Dragons lay only one egg per clutch, yet my sister and I hatched together, a twin pair. I am favored by the elements and am naturally protected by the ice element. But Aithne is a non-elemental white dragon, called a "crippled dragon". So my parents ordered me to give her everything she wants and protect her at all times. When my fiancé ordered me to take the place of Aithne to test the drugs again, otherwise he would terminate our engagement. I calmly dissolved the betrothal contract. I gave my wedding ring with him to Aithne. When Aithne caused a huge mess, I went in her place to apologize and take the punishment. When they asked me to conduct the drug test on behalf of Aithne, and I calmly agreed to do so. "Noxivira, once this experiment succeeds and Aithne gets better, we'll get married." Morpheus gazed tenderly at Aithne, as if already planning how to celebrate for her. My parents were also eagerly waiting for the drug test's results, hoping to make Aithne the new princess of the Frost Dragon clan. But none of them knew—I won't be coming back anymore. Because the Forest Witch said I have a terminal illness that drains life. I'll be dead soon.

On my birthday, my husband, Tristan, gifted me a white rabbit. He claimed it was a familiar that would bring me boundless luck. I took great care of it, but the rabbit kept sinking its incisors into me. It went from sipping a few drops of blood to ripping open my neck, draining me day by day until I was deathly pale. When I tried to get rid of it, Tristan called me petty. "Sera is an anniversary gift. You can't even tolerate a little rabbit?" Even my daughter went on a hunger strike. "If you get rid of Sera, I'll hate you forever!" Ultimately, I was entirely drained of my life force, dying a gruesome death on our wedding anniversary. After death, my spirit watched the rabbit shed its furry pelt and transform into a breathtakingly beautiful woman. It was Tristan's former lover, Seraphina. Even my daughter threw herself at her, gleefully calling her "Mom." That was when the truth finally hit me. Tristan had always been after my golden Elven blood. He needed it to break the curse on Seraphina and restore her humanity. Even my daughter's body had long been possessed by their twisted love child through dark magic. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day Tristan gifted me the rabbit. I smiled at him. "I'll take excellent care of her." But the moment he turned his back, I threw the beast straight into a witch's boiling cauldron.

After the Intermediate Mage Examination, I stood outside the door and overheard my mother tell a relative, "The Royal Academy's tuition is too expensive. We can't afford to send both daughters." The relative tried to reason with her. "They're both your daughters. You can't send one and leave the other behind." My brother cut in. "Liana can't even cast a basic light spell. She's the one who needs the extra help. Ella's talented enough to manage on her own. Send her with Liana as a maid. She can sit in on classes whenever she's free." Then came the voice of Caden Vale, the boy I had grown up with. "That's fair." Standing outside the door, I finally understood what fair meant to them. Liana got the place at the academy. I got to save them the extra tuition and wait on her as a maid. When we were kids learning the levitation spell, the only cushion in the house always went under Liana. Once, I fell and cracked my head open. Even then, I made excuses for them. I told myself Liana needed more protection than I did. But as I listened to them laugh, something inside me finally snapped. This time, I would not let Liana use me as her stepping-stone.

"Today is supposed to be a good day. We're choosing Wendy's dowry. Stop standing there bringing bad luck down on us!" My mother pulled my sister back in disgust, afraid the blood I had coughed onto the floor would splash the silver-bound chest. When a forest elf girl is born, her family plants a bonded tree for her, a tree that lives and dies with its owner. When a daughter marries, her eldest brother takes the old branches the tree has dropped on its own and builds her a dowry chest, a sign symbolizing a lifelong covenant of love and kinship. The chest is filled with gowns and with whatever the family gives her, and the larger the chest, the deeper the blessing. My brother cut my tree down and damaged its roots as well. "Wendy's tree is too thin and weak. It isn't worthy of the Royal Court. I had no choice but to saw yours into boards and put together a respectable chest for her." My sister stroked the silver-bound chest made from my ancient tree like a highborn princess. The whole family gathered around her to pick out what would go inside, as though they had forgotten that I was a bride that day too. My voice shook. "Then what about me?" My mother looked at me shaking there, and her face filled with disgust. "You insist on marrying that short-lived human. A wicker basket is dowry enough for you." Only in that moment did I understand that to them my life mattered less than Wendy's dignity. So I no longer had to treat them as family.