“They’re gone! All gone! What happened?”
Upon hearing her tearful voice leave the lips of the panicked little version of herself, Miyo realized she was dreaming. It was a dream about the worst day of her life, which had been painfully etched into her memory for all eternity. She’d still attended school back then. One day, she’d returned home after classes to find her room empty.
“Where is everything?!”
All her things were gone, including the precious mementos of her mother: kimonos, sashes, and accessories. Even the makeup mirror and her mother’s lipstick had vanished. Miyo quickly determined it must have been her stepmother’s doing.
“Lady Miyo, whatever is the matter?!”
Hana the maid came running when she heard Miyo’s wailing. She had been looking after the girl since she was born, so she was like a mother to her.
“It’s all gone! Even Mother’s things!”
“Goodness!” Hana cried. “How could this have happened?”
Hana had been out shopping and hadn’t noticed anything. She began apologizing profusely, swallowing back tears. Miyo bit her lip.
“My stepmother did it—I just know it.”
Miyo was just two years old when she lost her mother. Her father had wasted no time in remarrying, and Kanoko, Miyo’s stepmother, had despised the girl since day one. Kanoko’s daughter, Kaya, was three years younger than Miyo but already showed great potential. She’d inherited her mother’s extraordinary beauty and was a quick learner. Not only that, she’d already displayed the signature ability of the Gifted—Spirit-Sight, which allowed her to see the Grotesqueries. None of this could be said of Miyo.
Miyo’s parents had married solely to pass their supernatural powers on to their heirs, and yet it had been Kaya, not Miyo, who’d been born with the Gift. And Kaya’s mother came from a regular family with no special powers. In hindsight, Miyo’s father had had nothing to gain from breaking up with Kanoko, his sweetheart, to marry Miyo’s mother. This discovery only further stoked Kanoko’s hatred of her stepdaughter.
Miyo had only been a little girl then, but she’d understood that very well. Her stepmother had ensured she would, constantly remarking to her that “if only you hadn’t been born, then everything would be better” or that “your mother was a thieving wench.” But understanding someone didn’t mean agreeing with them.
“I’m going to have a word with Stepmother.”
Losing all her precious possessions wasn’t something she could ignore. She needed the mementos of her mother back to keep sane in a hostile home.
“You’re going on your own? Lady Miyo, I beg you to reconsider.”
“Don’t worry, Hana. If she doesn’t listen to me, I’ll tell on her to Father.”
Back then, she’d still believed her father would take her side. He’d become increasingly distant toward her, but she was certain that if she pleaded with him and reminded him of how poorly they had treated her, then he would at least rebuke his second wife. Miyo couldn’t have been more wrong.
“N-no! Let me out! Please let me out!”
When she’d headed over to her stepmother’s chambers to ask if she knew anything about the strange disappearance of her belongings, Kanoko had flown into a rage, punishing the girl for calling her a thief by shutting her in a storehouse at the back of the mansion.
“You’re not going anywhere until you think long and hard about your scandalous behavior. I should have expected as much from that homewrecker’s daughter. To think you’d call me a thief! You’re rotten to the core. Thank goodness my own daughter is nothing like you.”
“Stepmother, please! Please let me out!”
Barred from the outside, the door refused to budge no matter how hard she pushed or slammed her fists. Miyo pressed herself against it and shouted as loudly as she could, scared out of her wits. Her stepmother merely laughed at her for being pathetic and left. Even years after this episode, Miyo would still shake thinking about it.
There was only one small window high up on the opposite wall, letting in so little light that it was semidark inside the storehouse despite the sun being at its zenith. The cold dampness and stark emptiness of this long-disused space made it even more unnerving. Imprisoned there for an unknown length of time, little Miyo had been absolutely terrified.
“P-please… Let me out… Somebody help me…”
She bawled out apologies and pleas for help or forgiveness, but no one came. By the time she was released, it was the middle of the night; she’d been locked up since just past noon. Her father, whom she’d trusted to come to her aid if she was in need, hadn’t shown up. But the tragic events of that day hadn’t ended there. While she’d been trapped in the storehouse, the family had dismissed Hana and had immediately expelled her from the mansion for some made-up reason. And finally, they’d divested Miyo of her status within the household and would henceforth treat her worse than a servant.