#abrie

Prompt #13: Confluence OC: Evilie Voutellievre

From the sealed letters delivered to the future heir of the Voutellievre name in advance of their birth.

To my sister’s child,

I am of the mind that one should come into the ownership of responsibility with their eyes wide open. My own were shut when the title of Vicomtesse was awarded me, and I endeavor to ensure you are given every advantage I was not. My father, your grandfather, did not share this ideal. I was ill-prepared, perhaps borne from the idea that he would have found a suitable match for me by the time I came of age and I would be far from the halls of the manor and the duties therein. But fate, I have learned, often has other plans for us. 

You will not get to meet your grandfather, nor your grandmother, but I hope you and I will have the chance to form a bond in their stead when you are born. You will have a good mother, and one that will love you in a way she and I were not. But that is a story for when you are older. 

The role you inherit is not an easy one, nor one that you might wish for. There will likely be times you will desire other paths, or to live another life entirely, and for that I am sorry. I know the pain that sits deep in one’s chest at the thought of unfulfilled potential and the yearning for an unbound life. Though this calling has its own rewards as well. You have the power to enact change in this nation, and that is something you and I both might revel in together.

When my time on this star comes to an end my hope is that you see me both as family and a Vicomtesse who gave you the knowledge to not only survive this responsibility, but to bear its weight with dignity and pride. So from your birth until your coming of age I will continue to write these letters to you so that I might share my thoughts. I think, at least selfishly, that they are worth hearing.

With my love,

“I’d like to talk about father.”

“...Why?”

She feels the same hurt you do, but not the same guilt.

“Because we haven’t yet and it’s been nearly a turn.”

“...What do you want to talk about then?”

What do you want to talk about? It can’t be undone.

“I’m not sure. I suppose I thought if we just had the chance to speak it might feel...finished. It was so sudden.”

“...I don’t know what to say about it. What do you want to hear, that I’m sad?”

“No. I want to hear what you feel like telling me. Though I am sad, even if he wasn’t exactly present all the time. He wasn’t perfect but he was our father.”

Does that owe him something? Respect? Does it feel cruel to point out his flaws and absence now that he’s gone?

“...Do you remember when he put on that hat for Starlight that one turn?”

“Yes, and we couldn’t stop laughing at him.”

You also remember how he didn’t read to you. Didn’t tuck you in. Didn’t attend your first opera.

“He had his moments.”

“He did.”

He also went behind your back. Went against your will. Went and almost ruined this House.

“...I’m sad too. We all fought more than we got along but he was trying.”

“I’d like to think he was. It isn’t easy running a House like this. I know that now.”

Did he try? He tried to arrange your marriage, tried to control your every movement. Tried to dictate how you would live. Is that how a Viscount shows his daughter love?

“...What did you really want to talk about? I can see it’s not this.”

“...I think…”

“What?”

“...I think my life is better with him gone and I feel guilty for that thought. I’m not sure how I can even think that, but I do. It’s hard to feel this way about him.”

You’re not beholden to anyone now. Does his death sit uneasy because that was the cost of your freedom?

“I had a feeling. You’ve been different since he’s been gone.”

“I want you to know I don’t want to feel that about him. It’s just...now I don’t have to worry about things like I did before. I’m sorry.”

All the expectations and dread gone, and the only thing that had to happen was your father dying.

“...It’s okay.”

“I don’t want us to grow further apart like we did with father.”

“We won’t.”

But in actuality, I at least, am incredibly open to constructive criticism. So if anyone takes issue with our blog just let me know.