I was called a lost child because of my physical features. I had a mother, she was beautiful and was attractive. She was a prostitute and neglected me. She would feed me once a day but most days she'd forget she had a daughter so I really consider myself an orphan. Until some men found out about my existence.

Those men brought my so-called "Father" to our house. I was kept in the attic since my mother considers me as an unsightly being. Although our house is very small, there was still an attic where I mostly sleep or stay whenever she has work.

"I hear you are keeping my daughter," the man said as he entered our house.

The hole was big enough to see who he was. And I know for a fact that he was my father since I inherited most of his features.

"Well... if you are so interested with her why don't you pay up for raising her," my mother scoffed.

The man whispered to another man with him as they handed my mother a bag of coins. It was my first time to see such a huge amount of money.

"Well... this is enough. She's in the attic, go get her yourself if you like," my mother said as she took the bag of coins with her.

I sighed. She really has no hope until this man averted his eyes towards my location.

Oops, did I get caught?

I heard a soft knock on my door and had second thoughts in opening it.

"Milady, please open the door. We've come to take you home," a man said.

I fidgeted. Why is this making me nervous? But nevertheless, I still opened it. A man dressed in a butler's uniform was smiling at me as I opened the door.

"Come... milady," the butler smiled as he offered his hand to me. I felt at ease with him so I handed him my hand. He was really gently in getting me out of the tight attic.

"W-Where is he?" I asked shyly, pertaining to my so-called father.

"Oh... your father?? He left first since there are some unfinished works at the palace. He will be back after a week," the butler said as he put a silky cloak over my shoulders.

I remained silent after that. We rode a fancy carriage towards our mansion. The butler said I would meet my older brothers and it is making me nervous. Should I do housework to repay him? Should I work as a maid? These thoughts kept entertaining my mind throughout the journey.

The butler seemed to notice my nervousness as he smiled at me reassuringly.

"You are now the daughter of Duke Arkanoth. You should hold your head high now, milady," the butler smiled. "Oh... we're about to arrive milady."

As soon as I heard that we were about to arrive, my heart began to pound faster.

"Do you, by any means, have a name, milady?" he asked.

I stopped for a second. It's been so long since someone asked my name.

"Penelope. I was named Penelope by my grandmother," I smiled as he smiled back at me.

"Such a wonderful name, milady. Your father and your brothers will be so happy to meet you soon. In fact, they are awaiting for your arrival at the mansion so as we speak," the butler said. "Ah... here we are, milady."

My feet froze as the carriage opened up. Maids and servants lined up to greet her.

"It is alright, milady. They are all here to see you, young miss of Arkanoth," the butler smiled.

I looked at my clothes. It was tattered as if I was a beggar. Well, I was a beggar to begin with. I took a deep breath before I took his hand to which he offered. This was the second time he offered his hand to me. No one has ever done that before.

As I stepped down from the carriage, the people who lined up outside bowed down and greeted me.

"Welcome home, Young Miss," they all said in unison. And as they greeted me, their auras seem to glow in my eyes. Not the blinding kind but the kind that brings warmth to someone and I felt at ease with them.

Ever since I was born I can already see auras of different people. I call them aura since I don't know what it's called. An aura is a light that glows in their chests. There are two kinds of aura that I've seen; black and yellow. My mother's aura was always glowing black. It was so dark that if you stare at it for so long, it will feel like it's going to suck you in.

And yellow. These people have yellow auras. It's so warm and it's making me feel at ease.

"Now, milady... it's time to meet your brothers," the butler smiled.

As we entered the mansion, the butler led me to a huge door.

"Before you introduce yourself to your brothers, I suggest you change into your pretty clothes, hmm?" he smiled as he signaled for a woman to approach us. "This is Adela. She will be your nanny from now on. She has been the 4th young master's nanny. She will take care of you from now."

"Hello, milady. It is a pleasure to serve you from now on," she smiled. The aura in her chest was glowing yellow. I smiled, she was nice.

"Hello, I will be in your care from now," I smiled as I bowed to her.

"Well then, milady. Shall we doll you up?" she smiled as she held my hands. Her hands were really warm and comforting. My mother's hands were always cold and rough.

After getting inside the room, a lot of dresses were lined up. My eyes glowed. I've never seen such beautiful dresses all my life. I was only given rags to wear.

"Wow! That's a lot of dresses," I beamed. I've only seen mother wear dresses like this whenever she is working.

"They are all yours, milady. Your father and brothers selected every single one of them for you," she smiled. "Shall we start? Your brothers are anxious to meet you, milady."

She selected a black and gold dress. She did my hair and made me wear pretty glass shoes.

"Wow! You look really pretty milady!" she praised. "You certainly look like Lord Arkanoth! Even the young masters don't look a lot like the Lord."

"Thank you, Miss Adela," I said as I flashed a smile at her.

"You should call me Adela, milady. You don't need to be so formal with me. After all, you are an Arkanoth," she said. I only nodded in response. "Let us go, Butler Ben is waiting for you outside. He'll take you to your brothers."

As I got out of the room, Butler Ben was really waiting outside the door. He was holding another pretty cloak.

"Shall we go, Lady Penelope?" he asked as he draped the cloak over my shoulders.

"Thank you, Ben," I said. And after I said that, the aura in his chest glowed so much.

"I am glad you are acting like the true Arkanoth that you are, milady," he said as he led me towards the garden. He pointed to 5 young men in the pavilion who was dressed in the best suits that only my mother's clients that would usually wear.

"They are your brothers, milady. Let's go," he said.

I suddenly felt nervous so I held on his coat and hid behind his back as we slowly walked towards my brothers. As we got nearer, the auras in their chests were all yellow, a glowing yellow. They radiated the same glow and warmth as Adela's. But I was still nervous to meet them.

Ben cleared his throat first to catch their attention while I hid behind him.

"Ben, where is she?" the man who was holding a sword. I clutched Ben's coat mindlessly. I was quite afraid of swords.

Ben stepped aside to show me. I wonder how he managed to remove my hand in a second when I clutched his coat tightly. I quickly curtsied in front of them which made them laugh. I was really about to cry. That was really embarrassing as I prepared myself to run away but an older brother stood up and approached me to pat my head.

"Welcome to the family, baby sister," he smiled. His smile was the prettiest I've ever seen. No one has ever smiled to me like that and without thinking, I smiled back at him. "I'm your eldest brother, Mychaell. Don't worry about anything, your big brother will be here to protect you from now on."

"Lady Penelope, I shall leave you in their care," Ben said as he left me with them.

"May I carry you?" brother Mychaell asked to which I nodded in response. He swiftly carried me but carefully and very gently. "Have you been eating? You're so thin."

I couldn't tell them that my mother seldomly feeds me, it would be embarrassing.

"I heard your mother starves you. If father didn't tell me not to do stupid things, I would've slit that bitch's neck," a brother said.

"Daniel, Penelope is listening. Don't mind him," big brother Mychaell said. "He is Daniel, your 3rd brother. He's my assistant."

"Three of us are already in Ironbane Knights while the 2 youngest are still in training," Daniel said.

My eyes widened. My brothers are knights? I've heard of the Ironbane knights. My mother usually mentions it and speaks of it like some godlike warriors and she's very afraid of them.

"Yep, Valentyne here is my vice-captain and your 2nd brother. Samuel and Timothy are the youngest and are in training to become knights like us," Daniel said.

"Don't worry about anything, little sister. We'll protect you no matter what," Valentyne smiled.

"Mhmm, thank you, big brothers," she smiled with tears in her eyes. This surprised the boys.

"Wait! Did we do something to make you cry?" they asked.

I hugged Mychaell absentmindedly. No one has ever wanted to protect me like this before.

"No," I cried.

They all seemed to realize that I was crying out of happiness as they smiled at me warmly. I knew right there that I found a warm family.

My brothers were really nice to me. My three older brothers are always away for work but Samuel and Timothy are always at home. They both decided to train at home to keep me company. And I'm slowly learning the ways of the Arkanoth. The servants were really polite and respectful but I still haven't seen father.

Maybe he doesn't want to see me, I sighed. Wow, my mood suddenly went down the drain.

"Penny? what's wrong? Is something bothering you?" Samuel suddenly asked. He was still holding his sword. He's 10 years older than me which makes him look like a giant to a 5-year-old girl child like me.

Strange thought. I'm a 5-year-old and yet I think like someone older. Is this because I was raised poorly by my mother??

"No. Would father ever like me?" I asked.

Seeing my reaction, they suddenly laughed out loud. Did I say something funny?

"You don't have to worry about that. Besides, you don't have to do anything," he laughed.

"Ahh... Penny, father is coming home tomorrow. You should prepare a small gift for him," Timothy smiled.

A small gift?

What should I gift him though?

"You don't have to think about it. Just a small and simple gift would suffice. When we were younger, Samuel and I would bring him dead frogs as a gift. Back then Daniel and Valentyne would bring him branches or twigs and even our elder brother, Mychaell would bring him dead animals," Samuel laughed.

W-What???

"Ahh... I remember the good old days' brother. Father would have no choice but to accept those disgusting gifts," Timothy laughed.

Thinking about a gift for him is quite hard.

"Now, now... Don't pressure our little sister," I turned around as soon as I heard a familiar voice. The last time I saw him was last week and I've been missing him since.

"Mychaell!" I jumped up and ran to him as fast as I could.

"You didn't visit me yesterday, even though you promised," I pouted.

To be honest, I've been getting comfortable as the youngest and most loved sister of the Arkanoth family. But I'm slightly afraid of meeting the Duke. My fear of him was mainly caused by the rumors that surround him. They said that the Duke was quite a terror and that even his own children fear him, except for his favorite children.

Ever since I entered the House of Arkanoth, I slowly learned that the Lord has a lot of children. He wasn't quite fond of children but he didn't want to abandon them either. He only put them in mansions inside the estate that was far away from the main mansion where he resides together with his favored sons, and now, where I also live. I found out that those children only got half of his traits which is why he didn't want them around him.

I was lucky enough to inherit almost all of his features, from golden hair to golden eyes. Although they were fed and dressed well, they were almost abandoned by him. He showed no love nor affection to them.

"Father made me work overtime that's why I couldn't come home. I'm sorry," he said as he carried me in his arms. "I'm going to supervise the Ironbane knights in training, would you like to come, little Penny?" he asked.

I nodded abruptly. I've always wanted to see them train.

"Will Valentyne and the others be there too?" I asked.

"Yes, except Valentyne. He'll rather be doing paperworks than train with us," he sighed. "Timothy, Samuel... would you like to join us?"

Timothy and Samuel hesitated first but agreed in the end.

We walked towards the huge backfield of the mansion. It was my first time going there and from here, I could see the mansions of the other children, my other siblings, from afar.

"Mychael? What are those?" I asked as I pointed to the mansions.

His expression turned sour and his grip on me tightened.

"Is there something wrong, Mychaell?" I asked as I stared at him in the eye. His look in his eye was deadly and I really felt shivers.

"You must never approach anyone from those houses. After all, they don't belong with us in the first place," he said.

I suddenly felt that I need to obey him or else.