Random Short Stories

Eldervale's Conquest [🦋]

(If y'all know those manhuas with a female lead in a royal family who's cast aside for some other female lead who secretly wants to see the main female suffer while acting as a perfect princess and steals her fiancé, this is what this story is inspired off. However the story Bonds Undone was not inspired off this idea, rather it was based off a Reddit story I read.)
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In the land of Eldervale Feralis, where the sun bathed the land in golden light and the moon cast shimmering reflections upon the rivers, there stood a magnificent castle, an emblem of power and traditional hierarchy.

King Hawthorne ruled with a seemingly iron paw, seeing the world through a lens clouded by arrogance and pride. He had two princely heirs, Argon and Mercury, who embodied their father's vanity and lorded over their sister, Princess Crescent, with relentless cruelty.

Swathed in his royal regalia, the king often proclaimed himself the mightiest ruler of all, easily drowning out the quiet storm brewing in his daughter's heart. After all, he was the main ruler of the kingdom; nothing else mattered.

Queen Andromeda, a breathtakingly vain she-cat, flaunted her beauty as much as she did her disdain for Crescent. Her love was reserved exclusively for her two sons, who were so incredibly alike, they mirrored her flaws perfectly.

She paraded them before the court, lavishing praise and riches, all the while casting glances of derision at her daughter, as if Crescent were but a shadow sullying her sunlit world.

"You should strive to be more like your brothers, you disgraceful she-cat," she would often hiss. "A true princess will know how to capture attention rather than demanding it. Begging for attention—you're no better than a peasant."

Princess Crescent desperately craved her family's approval. With her silver fur and piercing green eyes, she was an enchanting sight, though her beauty often seemed overshadowed by her brothers' brash personalities.

Every day was spent in vain attempts to earn a moment of attention from her father, who only saw her as a mere extension of a lineage he believed should have been masculine and powerful. As a result of his disdain, he rarely ever cared for her.

Her mother, the queen, was relentless in her critique, favouring her sons while mockingly insulting her daughter at every turn. She did not appreciate that her daughter, though enchanting, was still, as she deemed, 'too soft for the throne'.

"My sons are destined for greatness," Andromeda would say, flicking her tail dismissively. "What can you offer, dear Crescent? Surely you must know by now that softness is unbecoming of royalty."

And beside her, the twin princes would snicker, reveling in their sister's discomfort. "You're just a shadow of us, Crescent. A mere decoration of the castle," Argon would jeer, causing Mercury to howl with laughter.

Argon and Mercury made their disdain for her vehemently clear. They would openly make fun of her anywhere, trip her into thorn bushes, steal food from her plate and sneak creepy crawlers into her room to terrify her.

Crescent was tired. Tired of their laughter that rang like hollow bells in her mind, devoid of warmth. Tired of evoking jeers from her brothers and indifferent glances from her parents.

In a feeble bid for approval, she would offer her mother delicate flowers she had handpicked from the royal garden, only to have them tossed aside in favour of more extravagant gifts from the deep vaults of the castle.

Yet despite the taunts and neglect, Crescent continued to try to fit into the mold her family demanded. It was all she could really do at this point.

She studied traditional etiquette, mastered the art of diplomacy, and devoted her days to preparing for her arranged marriage to Prince Nebula, a tom with hazel fur and gentle demeanour from the neighbouring kingdom of Auroralis.