T.A series Volume 2: The Illegitimate Extra

Chapter 13 - Lamenting Inferiority

Not far from Beika city happen to be a run-down western mansion that stood out.

If one were to walk past that Mansion, it would give passersby the vibe of eerieness. Though the enormous mansion reminded others to be an old castle, it formerly didn't have the appearance it used to have.

Many decades ago, this mansion used to glow brightly and make people happy. It used to appear magnificent from the outside. It is made of grey stones with white brick embellishments. Small, triangular windows add to the overall aesthetic of the house and have been installed in a very symmetrical fashion, reminding some of a fairy tale castle.

Back then, the couple who resided in the mansion were a loving pair and was kind and gentle to others around the neighbourhood. Neighbours would drop by, many parties were held, and happy memories were made. It was a blessing. No matter how one looks at it, the name House of Tadashi lived up to the meaning of its name: true, luck, devotion. The occupants of this house lived up to its name.

Of course, it would've been more of a blessing if a child lived in it.

Which is why when a then 6-year-old Tadashi Sora was notified she would be living in this mansion, she couldn't believe her luck.

For six years, she had fantasised about living in the house she saw on TV, as opposed to living in a slum with her biological mother. She certainly smiled when she discovered the guy residing in the mansion was her father, as she is about to live out her wildest desire as a real-life Cinderella. Sora has always had to cope with other kids speaking ill of her in school, from her worn-out shoes with dirt and holes to her mother's poorly-tailored clothes.

Furthermore, children would point and laugh as she passed by, calling her names she couldn't even begin to comprehend. Mothers would stare at her as if she had some type of disease. No one ever wanted to be around her, and she despised it. She despised the fact that she was always the outcast, the one who no one wanted to be around. All of this exacerbated her feelings of failure, as she frequently complained that if she had been born wealthy, things would have been different.

With this life, no one will ever look down on her again. She will live luxuriously with fancy jewels, and fancy gowns, dance with cute prince looking boys, and proudly show off with her nose high up.

But Sora was wrong, dead wrong.

What she expected to see there were tears, bitterness, and contempt. If she could go back in time, she'd prefer to remain in the slums with her dead mother than go through such humiliating experiences. It turns out that her married father sleeping with her mother did not enhance her status. For years, Sora has been mocked, taunted, and viciously blamed for every circumstance that the madam of this home has assigned to her. Even the madam's favourite servant is frequently involved in these heinous actions.

If that wasn't bad enough, her father was too much of a coward to go against his legal wife.

Though he doted on her, Sora knew her dad valued money and prestige more than his bastard daughter. That is why he never divorce the madam of the house until he died as Sora lived through life as it was already normal for her. Even though she was sent to a school deemed fit for wealthy families, the bullying there was a million times worst in her words.

They mocked her at her former school for being an extremely ambitious girl who talks big about aspirations she'll never achieve since she never puts any effort into whatever she does. They joyfully labelled her a 'bastard' who was born from a prostitute's mother, a homewrecker's daughter, at her new school when her life changed. Worse, she finds she isn't as talented as she assumed, because she fared poorly in school while other noble children excelled in all they did.