Paths of Prophecy

Chapter 3 - Violet Bernard

Chapter 3 – Violet Bernard

After viscount Bernard's death, an order was issued by the king to demote his viscountcy to a barony, leaving his wife as acting baron in his stead with help from his brother.

A few months after his death his wife gave birth to a son whom she raised him as heir until he came of age and unherited the barony and eventually gotten married. And after a few years, his uncle's wife gave birth to three sons, among them two twins, they were all raised in the barony.

However, their family's fate took a darker turn with the birth of his daughter, a girl with distinct purple eyes and hair – a holder of the gift- .

After careful consideration his uncle and aunt decided to leave the barony with their children because of their son's condition. Unfortunately, tragedy struck when they were ambushed on their way and died protecting their children. The sons were escorted back to the estate and raised alongside Violet Bernard until she got married to Baron Weistrass.

The Bernard family's history was plagued by assassinations and mysterious deaths, so it came as no surprise that when Baron Bernard's daughter was born, she was raised with secrecy and heightened protection. Her father waited until she reached adulthood and married her off to a wealthy baron in the far countryside, hoping she would be safe away from the city.

Violet heard nothing from her father or cousins until news of his death reached her, and she inherited their former estate. She had received letters from her cousins for a while, but those too ceased after a few months.

Her husband grew jealous of her meager wealth and decided to sell his estate as his income grew meager, and to use hers for living . That's when her ordeal began, she had no means of joining her cousins, nor could she ask for help from anyone. Eventually, she returned to the place her father had worked so hard to send her away from.

Her husband's abuse only intensified, and as their financial resources dwindled, so did their food. Desperate to survive, she took up work as a maid in a prominent shop in the village.
She had to wear disguises constantly and ensure her husband remained oblivious. However, her job lasted only a few weeks before she was replaced by a more competent maid.

 
With no other choice and food becoming scarce, she resorted to working as a prostitute in one of the village's largest brothels. She made clever use of her gift to quickly gain fame, but her popularity led the brothel to limit her services to only twice a week to leave some customers for the other prostitutes. This restriction prevented her from saving much or escaping her husband's tyranny.

Her life soon became a set of contradictions, if she wanted to live she had to run from the estate, but then again she would be leaving the only legacy of her family to that bastard of a husband, and even if she left she couldn't make money other than prostitution and that would put her life in danger because her gift could get exposed.

So she stayed in the barony and continued her job until she became pregnant with Izaya.

Her husband had grown suspicious of her and lashed out on her when she stepped out on an afternon, she reassured him and was able to persuade him using her gift but was obligated to sleep with him and weeks after she became pregnant.

She had stopped prostitution completely until a few months after her son was born, she had to provide for him as all her savings were spent in those nine months, so she started leaving in the middle of the night when he fell asleep and would come back at dawn.
It was a miracle that the baby was a heavy sleeper, her husband however ; would sleep in bars nowdays, so she at least wouldn't have a problem of him finding out.