Nobility. What could that entail? In a world on the brink of extinction, why would humans ever care about the status of one another? About rankings? About the value of one’s individual existence?
Well, when the nobles consist of the top hunting families in the continent, no one would sit and guess.
Lecourts have existed ever since Van Helsing built the city of Landen. Given their own land to govern as a token of appreciation and trust, the Lecourts took to the miles-wide rivers and chose to expand their family traditions through the city of Pirout, an architectural miracle that no other settlement would ever match...
Colourful houses, flowers decorating he stark white fences following the river that passed throughout the city and under the moat of a castle so magnificent, with its stone pillars, goblin watchers on the high walls and plated window doors…
Pirout was the perfect way for Adrien Lumière Lecourt to establish his legacy as the leader of the top dog hunter family amongst the humans. A factory of sharpened to perfection hunters and soldiers, preferring elegance, technique, and finesse to their combat style over the brutish, back-alley street fighting Landenian hunters adopt…
Seemingly, the scions of this esteemed collective would be rigorously trained from an early age to take on the head’s mantle and lead their clan.
The best example would be Fran?ois Lecourt. The current head of the Lecourt clan, a man renown through hunters for the silver, sapphire bejewelled armour he never takes off his skin, and the iron fist he carries to rule over Pirout.
The strictest head, his rule from the early age of 19 proved fruitful, elevating the clan in numerous domains, from hunting to organisation, training, innovation etc. Pirout has prospered ever since he stepped to the throne, alongside his mother, his brother, and his beautiful queen…
As to ensure this bountiful period persists throughout another generation, Lecourt chose to retain tradition and prepare his daughters for the path by an early age…
Thus, Lau would move her small feet hidden under a long blush dress with white petals, throughout chambers full of educators, trainers, wet nurses, maids…
Most of her days would be preparative hunter training, and education on any type of subject a noble Lecourt should be expected to know…
But during those afternoons, the one hour pauses she had between lessons, one thing ran circles throughout her mind. Throwing away those black tap shoes she was forced to wear, unbothered by the cold stone floor pressing against her feet, she ran from the highest chamber in the castle, slid down the wooden poles of swirly steps, dashed through silver armoured soldiers, servants carrying stacks of paperwork, wet nurses waiting patiently to catch her…
To the backyard, a spacious green hill hidden just behind the castle, for the main family to use for personal training and the like…
As she reached it, she would sit patiently at the gazebo and observed two figures training with old straw dolls…
A fit, tall man, with a slight stubble put on his structured jawline, and faint scars layered on his cheeks…Raven hair, short and slick backwards, and black eyes always half closed…
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Lau looked at her father. Love, fear, respect. Those were the emotions her father inspired with a glance at his stern eyes. The man rarely dropped the austere fa?ade, a way to always remind his daughters of what it means to hold the Lecourt name…
But Lau never minded. She dreamt of becoming a Lecourt huntress…All because of the raven-haired girl she had just ran an entire marathon to watch…
Held together by a silver, engraved circlet…a glossy fall of straight raven hair down to her waist…Beautiful brown eyes, creamy white skin, and sporting the same set of dark blue leather clothing with white linings her father wore, her sister was a sight to behold…
Her father ordered the puncturing attaks of seven straw dolls within a 10 second time lapse. Right through, no half-assed, little stabbings. Quick, precise, and piercing attacks opening bleeding wounds through the dolls.
Beatrice scoffed. She had them pierced through by 8 seconds, and even took off the head of the last one in the 10th second mark, no matter how many times her father ordered it…
Lau couldn’t hold back her admiration at her sister’s speed and grace, and ran to her like a bunny hopping to its nest…
Beatrice just threw away her sword and ran to her sister’s open arms. Even the stoic ruler of Pirout was a fan of his daughters’ hugging sessions, no matter how hard he kept his smile from cracking…
The scion of Pirout. Already under the procedures of human to hunter transformation, she has bedazzled the families of Pirout with her talent and flawless technique, all while seniors from Landen, Afreeka, Assia, are begging to have her join their ranks when she had finished her training…
But Fran?ois didn’t even have time to reject the offers. As much as the young girl wanted to be everywhere all at once, she had already chosen to lead her beloved clan and the citizens of Pirout towards a better future…
Beautiful, talented, graceful, kind, enchanting, energetic, ambitious, humble…Alongside Beryl Grut, she was one of the hunters to watch out for, and one that Pirouettans had in mind when the word “hope” flew out of their mouths…
And thus, the black parade held in her honour was one to be remembered…
Lau’s tears blocked the view of her stone grave…The more she cleared them away, the more they would water her eyes again…
At that moment, the brightest star of her world’s sky had fallen to the ground…
Once the tears finally stopped, and her father gave her a preparatory speech for what’s to come, the young Lecourt swore to replace her sister…
And thus began a regime of strenuous, strict, excruciating training personally handed out by a grieving father, who took his daughter’s purpose to the very core and made it his dying will to create the next scion of the Lecourt clan out of that girl…
Carrying the weight of an entire clan’s future, and the weight of her own revenge, how could the Lecourt princess ever manage to reach her prodigious sister’s level of power…?
Lau: “…you left me a hole I can never fill…”
One rumour behind the prodigy’s death, circulated just enough to have the Lecourts fearing for their lives as the top hunter family…An accusation, that could have a hunter kill you on the spot should you ever throw it in his way, even as a joke…
Something no Lecourt should ever be accused of…
Written in the obituaries, the largest news for the next few months after her death, a horrid rumour after years…
“Beatrice Lecourt, scion of the prestigious Lecourt clan, dead after an encounter with her vampire lover”…
Lau: “That can’t be true, sis…right?...I don’t believe them…I’ll prove them wrong…”
Lau’s duty wasn’t just revenge. Nor just a transfer of responsibilities. The moment her sister laid her head on the soil, the young princess was charged with restoring her violated honour, and along with that, the honour of the entire house…
Avenge, restore, retain….Those three words were Lau Lecourt’s motto for the rest of her life…
