The Young Master
Haness, The Kingdom of Ruven
27 April 1911
A little girl with olive skin and shoulder-length wavy hair was busy scribbling on the white wall fence, she enthusiastically immortalized her masterpiece in the form of a painting of twin mountains with a rising sun and a patch of rice fields. Yes, without feeling guilty, the little girl painted the fence of the Duke's palace wall.
"Stop it, Soledad! That's enough. If Duchess Margaret finds out we could get into trouble, we'd better leave!" Rachel asked. She was too afraid to face the old woman who lived in this palace
In contrast to Rachel, Soledad is a troublemaker who really likes fighting with noble children who she considers spoiled, whiny and very arrogant.
As if she didn't heed her friend's words, Soledad became increasingly angry. She mixed the remaining brown paint with water mixed with black charcoal powder. With a vengeance she threw the remaining colored liquid in the bucket against each wall.
"At this time of day the nobles must be taking a nap, they are lazy pigs."
"But we'll still be in trouble if we're found out. Come on, let's just go!" Rachel almost cried. Even though she had the opportunity to leave, for Rachel, she couldn't afford to leave Soledad alone.
Soledad whistled like a bird, without feeling at all guilty about her actions, she didn't know the impact of her mischief on anyone else if not her father and her mother who worked as servants in this palace.
Twenty minutes later, the mountain painting on the wall began to dry out in the hot sun. Instead of being beautiful, the painting is very bad. Rachel bit her lip, she was afraid of being scolded even though she didn't do anything at all.
The whirring sound of a car engine could be heard across the smooth road. A shiny black car stopped five meters from the fence of the Duke's house.
Soledad's jaw dropped, she had never seen a car this good. Rachel, who was standing behind, was no less amazed.
A middle-aged man with a thick mustache in a black uniform stepped out of the car. The man looked at the two girls with buckets standing in front of the fence and looked at him full of confusion.
"What are you two doing here?" The man asked while frowning
"Who are you, sir? What do you want to come here for?" Soledad asked as if she were the host here.
"I came to take the young master to the Duke of Haness palace, Robert Ferdinand Walter."
"Young master?" Soledad asked confused, she then looked at Rachel who was just as confused as she was. Suddenly, a brown-haired boy with blue eyes came out of the car.
"What happened, uncle? What took you so long?" Asked the boy. He looked at the two little girls with a cynical look, especially at the tan-skinned girl who looked dirty.
"Darling, calm down!" Said a woman from inside the car.
Soledad and Rachel looked at each other, in contrast to Soledad who immediately showed her displeasure when she saw the boy's typical noble appearance. Rachel actually smiled shyly, her cheeks flushed. She looked down nervously.
"Tch, here comes another lazy pig. Just annoying!" Soledad said irritably.
Hearing her words, the boy's face immediately turned red. He was sure that the dirty girl had just compared him to a pig.
"What are you saying?"
"Nicky? Oh my darling, Nicky!"
The voice of Duchess Margareth Walter was heard, who had just come out of her house. She walked quickly with a bright smile welcoming the arrival of her only grandson.
"Grandma?" The boy smiled happily. He immediately hugged the duchess who turned out to be his grandmother.
"Oh Nicky my darling, I've been waiting for you. You must be tired from the journey, right?" She said while continuing to kiss her beloved grandson's cheek.
"No, Grandma. I'm fine."
"Where's your mother, Nicky?"
"Mom is still in the car. Who are they?" The boy asked sarcastically, pointing at Soledad. Soledad and Rachel, who were shocked, could only remain silent and froze where they were.
Duchess Margaret turned her gaze to two girls whose presence she was unaware of. She glared sharply at Soledad's dirty clothes. The little girl was holding a white bucket containing paint remains and a mixture of black charcoal.
"Oh my God, what happened to my palace?" She shouted hysterically looking at the fence of her palace which looked terrible.
The Duchess lamented over the fence of her house, she continued to scream with excessive reactions. Her scream caused the people in the house to immediately run out, including Soledad's mother, who worked as a servant in this palace.
"What's wrong, my darling? Why are you screaming?" Asked the Duke of Haness, Robert William Walter who came out of the palace.
"Oh Robert, look what that girl did to our palace?" The Duchess immediately complained to her husband.
Jannet, Soledad's mother, who also came out when she heard the duchess' screams, immediately panicked when she saw her daughter's behavior. Even though Rachel was also there, it was certain that she was not involved.
"Who did it?" Duke Robert Walter asked. In contrast to his wife, he is much calmer and wiser.
Soledad bowed her head, she stepped forward and stopped right in front of the duke who looked at her patiently.
"You did it, Soledad?" The Duke lowered his head, looking directly into the eyes of the 12 year old girl.
"That's right, Your highness. I did it," she answered, admitting her actions. Even so, from her behavior, she didn't regret it at all. People who already know her know exactly how this girl is known as a troublemaker, but for a newcomer like Nicholas, what Soledad did was truly extraordinary, especially for a girl.
"Why did you do that?" The Duke asked again, Soledad glanced at her mother who looked worried and unable to do anything if her daughter was punished.
"I'm so sorry," she said quietly. She already knew that if this continued her mother would definitely get into trouble.
"That's okay. Looks like you have talent in art, you could become a famous painter, hahahaha...but next time if you want to paint, just tell me, I'll get a canvas and a set of colored paints for you."
"What the hell? You always spoil that girl. Look what she's done? How will her parents pay for all this?" Duchess Margareth of course did not accept it because she was not the type of generous nobleman like her husband.
"Never mind, it's okay, she's just a child. There's no need to make a big deal out of it." The Duke just laughed, he felt that this was no big deal.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness. I'm so sorry!" Jannet looked down, she lowered herself as low as possible so that her two master would forgive her daughter's mistakes.
"I'll cut your salary to pay the painter!" Duchess chirped angrily.
"Ah...never mind, stop it. Our daughter-in-law and our grandchildren have just arrived, don't make them uncomfortable. Come on, Nicholas, take your mother inside!"
"Yes, Grandpa." Said the boy named Nicholas, he deliberately walked past Soledad while smiling sarcastically as if to show that he had just won a battle.
Soledad, who was furious to see Nicholas, when her mother suddenly grabbed her hand. Her mother was angry and embarrassed by her actions.
"I'm embarrassed by what you did. Why did you have the heart to do something like that?" Said her mother. She just stroked her chest, trying to remain patient with her very naughty daughter.
Rachel was silent, she felt sorry. Even though she had actually tried to advise Soledad, Soledad was still stubborn.
"I'm angry because you always get scolded by that witch, Mother. She's evil like a witch!" Soledad defended herself, instead of being sorry, what came out of her mouth were harsh and cursing words.
"You can't do that, His Highness Duke Robert Walter is very kind to us. Never mind, you better go home now and take a shower, I don't want to see you like this. Do you understand?" She said as she left and went back into the palace.
"Yes, mother." The answer was languid. Soledad walked slowly carrying the bucket, Rachel immediately followed.
"I told you, right? You don't believe my words, it's a pity that your mother is constantly being scolded by Duchess Margaret." Rachel said. Soledad just nodded languidly.
"Those pigs, one day I will definitely repay their arrogance."
"What are you going to repay them with? But by the way, young Master Nicholas is very handsome, right? He's tall, his skin is very clear, his hair is shiny and his blue eyes are also very beautiful. He looks like an angel."
"Who said? He actually looks like a pig. You know the pigs on the farm, that's what they look like."
"You can't talk like that, don't equate humans with animals, Soledad."
"Just leave it alone, they also often equate ordinary people like us with slaves and animals. Anyway, the old witch and her ugly grandson are witch pigs."
"If they hear you, you will be punished."
"I don't care, basically they are lazy, witchy pigs!"