Chapter 2 Unfit

I immediately grabbed the hand that reached for my neck and tried to hurl him across the room to no avail. When I opened my eyes, I was met by a pair of deep red eyes, staring back at me, with hints of annoyance in them. When I looked down at his hands, he was holding a wet piece of rag. Bloodied bandages were scattered around the bed, and there was medicinal incense burning by the bedside—

“Who are you and where am I?”

He yanked his hand away by force and stood up. I immediately went after him, but he just looked back at me once again, still annoyed. “There’s no need to be alarmed. You’re in a Rogue settlement. I’m Kieran White, and I brought you here.”

A Rogue settlement? My mind was screaming as I looked around the small house. I tried to check on my body for any aches aside from my injuries, but surprisingly, they were already healed. I was in different clothes! I glared at him, but before I could even open my mouth, he already shut me down.

“I know what you’re thinking, little miss. I didn’t do jacksh*t on you. I merely saved you and spent the last two weeks taking care of your unconscious body.”

I felt flustered by that remark. He took care of me! And now, I was acting ungrateful. I tried to bow down and thank him, but Kieran just stared at me with his dead eyes. “Thank you…”

“Save it. I’m looking for more servants, anyway,” he said before slamming the door shut behind him. “You’d do nicely.”

Even if his words didn’t land right on me, I just let them pass. After all, he saved me from that cave. I’d rather choose to be alone with a Rogue rather than a Red, and besides, if this were a settlement, there’d be other wolves here that I could ask about the current situation in the Capital. Even if this was in the middle of nowhere, there must be one or two people who venture out and hear news from the city.

“He said I was out for two weeks,” I said to myself as I walked towards a vanity mirror. My heart sank when I saw the huge scars on my face and body that left it in an almost unrecognizable state. My hair had missing patches on it, and one of my eyelids was almost gone because of the deep gash across my eye. Despite the healing, I still…

I still looked like a monster. Not a maiden fit to become the Queen.

I pressed my eyes shut as I was reminded of the harsh words my parents often told me growing up. They told me I looked horrible and that my sister, Medea, was far better than I. They treated her like a prized possession while I—

“I told you, I’m not going to let you die just like that, my child.”

“Mother Goddess?” I called. I sighed before flopping on the bed. “I… I was better off gone. You know I don’t have a place to go back to.”

Mother Goddess just laughed at my plight. “Why don’t you ask the white wolf if he has a job for you? After all, he took you in. Won’t be that hard to look for work. Who knows, he might be useful on your journey back to the Capital.”

I didn’t say anything else, partly because I knew the Goddess would just keep on pushing me until I caved into her demands. I got up and bandaged my face before leaving the small house, in search of Kieran.

The Rogue settlement was small, like a town. Walking around made me notice a few small stores and small houses just like the one I had been to. The ground was paved, and there were even a few friendly settlers who greeted me and asked about my condition. Most residents have scars on their skin or some kind of deformation that reminded me of when my father, Alpha Heron, captures an omega and tortures them for simply getting on his nerves.

“Most Rogues here came from the kingdom. We’ve been thrown out, deformed, and hideous, for some reason. I presume you’re one of us now, little miss.”

I jolted when I heard Kieran’s voice in my ear, his hot breath hitting my skin. I moved away to turn and face him, and he was standing behind me, carrying his axe. “I—”

“Those rich bastards robbed us all of our possessions and discarded us like trash. Pardon me, but judging from the clothes you were in when I first saw you, I can safely assume you used to be one of them—”

“Kieran! Boy, enough! Stop scaring the little miss!” I turned to look at the old man who came rushing to us. He has a huge scar on his face and a few missing fingers. He pointed his cane at Kieran and nudged him away from me. “Sorry, dear, but the new chief can be hot-headed sometimes.”

I awkwardly smiled. “No harm done. He saved me, after all.”

The old man smiled and extended his hand to me. “Reuben Ulrich. I used to be the chief before Kieran took over. And you’re—?”

“Hestia. I’m Hestia Locke, but I recently got married to Augustus Hunt, so I—” My heart almost jumped when Kieran’s demeanor was painted with hostility once again. “He… he abandoned me for my sister, and she had me killed. Almost.”

“Your sister is the maiden preparing for ascension?” Reuben confirmed. “I received the news of the new Queen, and she’d be ascending a year or two from now after she completes all the rituals.”

I closed my eyes and bitterly nodded. “Yes. The future Queen is my sister. We used to compete against each other, but I forfeited my claim because Augustus wanted a normal family life. I believed him, I didn’t realize he would—”

“Augustus is a two-faced scum,” Kieran said, gritting his teeth. “He’d do anything for power, and I know that. All Capital folks are the same. Just like you—”

“Kieran!” Reuben called him out again. “I need to have a word with you, young man. Hestia, please visit the small diner across the street. Tell the waitress Reuben sent you and have a nice meal while I talk to the chief.”

I followed Reuben, partly because Kieran was shooting me these hostile stares that I couldn’t stand. I entered the small diner and told the waitress, who seemed to have seen the commotion, that Reuben sent me. After preparing a meal, she let me eat in peace without many questions. The pancakes tasted good, given how scarce resources must have been here in the middle of nowhere.

After a good half an hour, Reuben and Kieran entered the diner. He motioned his hand, asking for two cups of black coffee before joining me at my table. Kieran still looks pissed while the old man was beaming at me.

“Hestia, to tell you the truth, I was alarmed by the sudden appearance of a woman of high status near our settlement. We Rogues, had been living in seclusion and peace here; we don’t want anything else.” He cleared his throat. “But the Goddess tells me that you’re… in need of help.”

“The Mother Goddess?” My eyes and ears perked up. “Can you hear her too?”

He just sadly smiled and nodded. “A small gift of mine. Just like you, Your Majesty.”

To my shock, Reuben knelt in front of me despite struggling. Kieran seemed to be forced to, and I immediately stopped the two of them. I looked away. “Get up, I’m not the Queen. I… I already forfeited my claim. It’s… no use now.”

The old man smiled. “Are you just letting her get what truly belongs to you after attempting to kill you, Hestia? Are you just going to let her triumph over you?”

My fingers dug into my skin as I heard those words. I never asked for anything else but to be happy and be loved. That was all I asked. And yet, here I am, staying in a Rogue settlement, with a disfigured face.

Where did I go wrong?

“If she didn’t want any help, then it’s best not to offer it anymore, Gramps. However, while I can offer her a place to stay here, I can’t guarantee anything. Everyone must earn their keep—”

“I want to get my old life back. No, I…” I looked straight into Kieran’s eyes, my heart burning with pent-up anger that I’d held for too long. “I want to make them pay.”

He just smirked before drinking his coffee. Reuben smiled and took my hand. “Your sister won’t be ascending to the throne for another year or two, so you’ll have plenty of time to prepare. But in order to become stronger than her, you must fight your demons, dear Hestia.”

I softly laughed before picking up Kieran’s axe that he left lying on the table. “Oh, fret not. I’ve been living with my demons all this time.”

Reuben left not long after that, leaving Kieran and me alone. He was silently sipping his coffee, and I had no other thing to say, so I just sat there and waited for him to stand up. “Oh, thank you for… deciding to help me…”

He scoffed before standing up. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s Uncle Reuben who asked me to take you in. I’m just simply paying my debt to him, and I have my personal businesses to attend to in the Capital.” He glared at me before leaning forward, meeting my eye. He took the axe from my hand. “If you do anything to jeopardiz

e us Rogues and me, I’ll make sure to make you pay with your life, Your Majesty.”