Ten Years Ago...

"Villains shall always be villains, we must stay vigilant."

Astoria always thought of the King of Viscount to be a horrible ruler. His pale skin and graying dark brown hair with that precious golden crown. It was bejewelled with the most lavish gems and rhinestones in all of the land. Even the castle that stood before them took up a quarter of the kingdom's land.

It was stupid to know your status would be determined by a crown.

"As your king, I will make sure that no harm shall come to our kingdom," the king continued and cheers erupted from the crowd. Astoria was pushed onto the hard ground as the crowd became rowdy with excitement.

Astoria De Vil stood up back, shaking. No, she wanted to scream. No, you idiots do not get to cheer for King Julius when he's not telling the truth. The people of Viscount only saw what they wanted to see and the Abernathys controlled what they saw.

"We understand that there has been crime around the kingdom, but our council will speak up. We care about the welfare of Viscount," King Julius smiled. "We are aware of the horrible and cutthroat villains that are watching. Let them watch as we all have valour inside us."

King Julius' smiling son, Prince Thatcher Abernathy, clapped. Astoria hated that smile with a burning passion. Did Prince Thatcher know the truth? Did he know the hardships that Astoria had to face?

He looked so happy and smug in that navy suit and had the same hair as his father's. Astoria had never felt so small and weak in front of the royal family—they stood on their balcony in Abernathy Castle while everyone stood below.

The castle was so large and Astoria wondered why not a lot of people lived inside it. Prince Thatcher's bedroom was probably twice as big as the De Vil House. Prince Thatcher's waning hazel eyes wandered over the crowd, knowing full well that he'll inherit all of Viscount when he's of age. That boy hasn't worked a day in his life—

"False truth! False truth!" A man hollered in a rage. King Julius paused and everyone turned to the man who spoke. He was a shabby man with piercing angry eyes. He's also from the Slums, Astoria realized.

"King Julius if you're truly staying vigilant, then why are people in the Slums dying? Answer me, goddamnit!" The man was fuming, rolling up his fists. He was dressed in rags like how Astoria was, though Astoria's ragged dress was cleaner. "My wife, Paloma, is ill and is on her deathbed. The Slums is broken with crime and debt, and your sorry ass is not speaking up—"

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but the Viscount Kingdom is our focus," King Julius said and Astoria narrowed her eyes. He was deflecting the questions thrown at his feet. The king turned away and whispered something off-scene.

"Answer me, King Julius!" The man wailed, his face red. "You claim that the Viscount Kingdom is your focus, but you refuse to show the truth! The Slums is a part of the kingdom and you're not paying us our funds—"

The man was tackled to the ground by a couple of Viscount knights. "No!" Astoria cried out as the man struggled against the knights. "Someone help him! He's innocent! He's innocent!" She whispered in fear.

"You claim that the Viscount Kingdom is full of valour and bravery! But this kingdom is ridden with viciousness!" The man screeched as a knight landed a hard blow to his nose. "This is not the V-Viscount Kingdom I grew up with! It's the Vicious Kingdom! Vicious Kingdom!"

The man was gagged and dragged away. Astoria's hands shook as she was horrified at the thought of what would happen to the poor man. No one spoke up or helped him, pure silence filled the crowd.

"We apologize for that man's disruption," Queen Caprina said, a smile on her face. She was dressed in golden robes and looked visibly stressed. Disruption, Astoria thought. What a misuse of that word. "But we must leave now, we will inform the council of this issue. Thank you."

The royal family discreetly left the balcony while the crowd clapped. How could they clap when something so terrible happened? Astoria sucked in a deep breath and exhaled. She had to go back to Slums now or someone would discover her.

Astoria pushed her way through the horde of people that surrounded them. Oh, how she hated the royal family and Council of Viscount. She hurried past luxury stores and shops that she dreamed of buying from. As Astoria passed alleys, she soon found herself back in the Slums.

Astoria De Vil couldn't stop thinking about what the man had said. It's the Vicious Kingdom! Vicious Kingdom! Instead of the kingdom full of valour, it was full of viciousness.

That's the day she started to call the Viscount Kingdom by its true name.

A/N: Lovely cover by BleuSaphir51