Masquerade [Killer x Reader]

Prologue

I have never thought of myself as a romantic.

My father was an alcoholic whom I never got to know. From what my mother told me, he was a nobleman who liked to drink in shady taverns and make promises that he could later break. 

When she met him, my mother had two jobs: by day she helped out at a restaurant specializing in pasta, and by night she was a waitress at that place. My father became interested in her almost as soon as he met her. I'm sure she was already a beautiful woman back then. To me, she always has been. 

My father used to leave generous tips if she was the one who served him, thus getting her to spend more time with him.

One year, my grandfather fell ill. At first, my grandmother and my mother managed to pay for his treatment by selling some junk my grandfather had accumulated over the years. It may not have looked like it, but in his youth, the old man had been a real sea dog. Sometimes he'd tell me stories about how the Pirate King, who was just a cabin boy at the time, had tried to swindle them out of fifty berries by selling them a fake map.

It didn't work out well for poor Roger. My grandfather recognized the deception instantly and —to teach him a lesson— decided to rob him of the little money he had collected by swindling other pirates. 

From time to time, I wonder if Gol D. Roger would remember my grandfather when he became the government's most wanted man.

Getting back to the subject of my father, my grandfather didn't seem to be getting better no matter how many doctors he saw. A few months later, there was nothing left in the house to sell, and my mother and grandmother still needed more money to find new treatments. My grandmother was now quite old and unable to work, so they both supported themselves on what little my mother earned. And, among those earnings, were the tips I mentioned earlier. 

By the time they realized it, my father had become their major source of income. So when he began to show a romantic interest in her, my mother was unable to turn him down. At that point, our little family practically depended on him and his tips.

My grandfather died on the fourth of September, despite my mother's and grandmother's best efforts. My grandmother was not able to bear it and, just a month later —on October 4— she also left us. 

I would have liked to meet her. According to my mother, she made the best apple pie in all of South Blue.

When my mother was left alone, my father was there to support her, and she ended up getting attached to him. Considering the situation, I doubt it was true love. 

At that time, it was frowned upon —and still is— for a nobleman to marry a commoner, so they kept their relationship secret. They saw each other at dawn, when the streets were silent and the walls were asleep. He swore eternal love to her, and she believed him.

Until seven months later, my mother became pregnant. And you can figure out what happened next. 

All the whispered words of love, all the promises at midnight, were blown away by the wind. Apparently, my father didn't want a bastard son. Have I already said that I hate nobles?

At first, my mother tried to convince him that they could still get married. No one would know they had conceived me before marriage if they did it soon. 

I think, deep down, she already knew he would leave us, but she still wanted to try. She didn't want her son to grow up without a father, and abandoning me was never an option for her. She is the most motherly woman I have ever met in my life.

In June of that same year, my father went on vacation with his family and never returned.

My mother decided to move in September, after the anniversary of my grandfather's death. Her belly was already showing and people were starting to point her out in the streets. No one knew what "bastard she would have rolled around with for a couple of coins", and they didn't want to be around someone like that.