Chapter 123: The First Lesson.

Loveline’s sweet smile instantly vanished, replaced by a vicious, sadistic grin. She turned to Andrea. "Watch and learn, sister-in-law. I will fix this country girl in a jiffy. By the end of the night, she will know where she belongs."

Loveline walked out toward the kitchens, returning two minutes later with a short kitchen maid who was carrying a wide, heavy wooden bowl. A foul, horrific odor began to draft through the living room. It smelled of rotting scales, stagnant pond water, and fermented fish guts.

"Apofia," Loveline commanded. "Tip the chair. I do not want to mess up the grand patriarch’s seat"

Apofia, eager to redeem herself, grabbed the heavy leg of the Grand Patriarch’s chair and yanked it upward with the strength of ten men.

Lita’s eyes flew open just in time to realize gravity was no longer applicable. With a loud, undignified crash, she tumbled off the chair, landing face-first onto the hard marble floor.

"Ow! My head!" Lita shrieked, clutching the back of her skull. "Are you people insane?! How dare you! I am Eliot Kaelion’s wife. What is wrong with_"

Before she could finish venting, a huge wave of gray, slimy, chunky fish-gut water was poured directly over her head. She couldn’t herself, she screamed in shock.

"Ugh! Oh my god!" Andrea instantly pinched her nose, leaping back five feet. "That is absolutely rancid! Loveline, you are terrible! You really have out done yourself this time. It will take forever to scrub the stench out of her hair. At least now, she will not run outside and embarrass us because she will be too ashamed to walk around with that fish smell."

Loveline and the kitchen maids burst into peals of cruel laughter. "Sister-in-law, I am giving our new Kaelion bride an official welcome. She seems to think that she was married into the family to enjoy luxuries. Her first day here and she is so rude and sitting wherever she likes! She couldn’t even pull a butler or servant aside to ask the do’s and dont’s!"

Lita’s scream stilled. She sat on the floor, completely drenched. Slabs of slimy fish scales clung to her hair, a piece of fermented fish tail was draped over her shoulder like a horrific ornament. The pungent, choking stench of rotting seafood filled the entire living room.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Lita screamed, finding her voice again. It cracked with pure horror and disbelief. "WHAT IS THIS?! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?"

"Shut your mouth!" Loveline snapped. She stepped forward, her face twisted in malice, and delivered a sharp, stinging slap across Lita’s wet cheek.

Lita’s head whipped to the side, her cheek burning. "You slapped me!" In her whole life, her parents had never laid a hand on her. Day one of being married and she had been hit! What would the rest of her life be like? This was not what she was promised!

"How dare you raise your voice in this house? Who do you think you are?" Loveline hissed, leaning down so Lita could see the cold cruelty in her eyes. "And how dare you sit in the Grand Patriarch’s chair? Do you think because you wore a red dress today you are suddenly a phoenix? You are a crow, peasant girl. A dirty, peasant crow."

"I...even if I sat in the wrong chair, you could have told me politely. Why hit me? Why pour filth over me?" Lita whimpered, hot tears of humiliation spilling over her fish-slicked cheeks.

"Well, now you know," Loveline sneered. "In this house, there is a hierarchy. The grand patriarch at the top, the elder Soul maiden, the most outstanding Soul maidens follow and then the strongest sons and daughters of the house. The list goes on and on....you will get the introduction book.

As it stands now, even the servants are above you because they actually know how to be useful. Right now, you are lower than the dirt beneath our shoes. I saw the footage, you came in here acting all high and mighty but I will put you in your place!"

Loveline pointed a sharp, gold-ringed finger toward the giant round clock standing in the corner of the hall.

"Look at the time. It is exactly 8:40 PM. The elders of the Kaelion family drink their evening calming tea at exactly 9:00 PM. You must brew it personally and serve it. You are already late at starting that duty. If you are late by even a single second to serve them, I promise you, what happened just now will feel like a warm bath. Now go wash yourself. You smell like a dead pig."

"Ha-ha-ha! Very entertaining Loveline." Andrea paused and looked at Lita. "She stays in the West wing with the servants_ my brother does not want her in his quarters." She said as she left the room.

Loveline smiled, she had been the underdog for far too long. She had come from a privileged clan and powerful family, but her half-life beast was a low-level rainbow fish. In this family, strength earned respect, so she had little. Now someone had taken her place, and she had to make sure that the position stuck.

So, what if Lita had a stronger half-life beast? At the end of the day, she was a poor countryside woman with no manners. She raised her hand, about to slap her again.

Lita scrambled to her feet, slipping twice on the slimy puddle of fish water. Surrounded by the snickers and quiet giggles of the maids and servants. They didn’t let her get far. Servants grabbed her hands, dragging her to the bedroom which had been prepared for her and threw her inside.

She didn’t get up immediately. Lita remained on the floor, wallowing in self pity. "Why..." she sobbed, "Why is this happening to me?"

"Move." Apofia appeared in the door and barked. "If you don’t work, you will be eating with the dogs tonight."

Lita dragged herself to the vanity mirror and stared at her reflection. She looked pathetic. Her hair was a matted, fish-scented bird’s nest. Her skin was pale, and her eyes were red and puffy.

"I am a princess in my father’s house..." Lita whispered to her reflection, her voice trembling with a mixture of grief and rising fury. "Back in my village, the elders bowed to me! The young masters of other clans wrote poetry for me! How did I become so pitiful? How did I let these vile, arrogant city bitches treat me worse than a dog?!"

She sniffed her sleeve and immediately gagged. The smell of the fish water was unbearable. "They think they can break me," she hissed, her tears drying as a cold spark of stubborn pride ignited in her chest. "They think I will crawl to them at 9:00 PM like a beaten puppy to pour their stupid tea?"

Lita stood up straight, tearing the fish-covered shirt off her chest and throwing it to the floor.

"Let them wait." She muttered. "Let them do their worst! I would rather eat with dogs than serve them a single drop of tea tonight!"

With a scream of pure frustration, she kicked the ruined shirt aside and marched into the bathroom to wash the stench of the fish off her skin and plot her revenge.