Bluebeard
Short Story (2023) (EN/CN)
Bluebeard
Short Story (2023) (EN/CN)
Bluebeard was born into an extremely wealthy family in the Kingdom of Caphtoria. His family descended from a famous adventurer, and these voyages always brought back exotic spices from the Far East. However, Bluebeard's father was a womanizer, which made Bluebeard the seventh child. He did not remember who his mother was. "You should always be graceful for being born into this family!" His father often told Bluebeard. After all, his family controls half of the country's economic resources.
Since he was young, Bluebeard has been the most mediocre child in his family. Some of his brothers and sisters became the most successful businessmen in the entire continent, and some became generals in the army. But Bluebeard has not been interested in any of these since he was a child. He likes flowers, and he wants to open a flower shop, to live with plants every day, and listen to what the plants would softly say to him. Bluebeard believes that all living things have their own unique love and emotions. His favorite was a flower called Nyxara, which only blooms in the Kingdom of Captoria, and its velvety purple petals are reminiscent of the night sky. The Nyxara flower always blooms quietly under the moonlight, it is said that its petals will absorb the essence of the moonlight, and that will making it more gentle and elegant.
However, Bluebeard's father does not want Bluebeard to become a florist. He thinks that doing such a job will bring shame to the family. Eventually, the father decided to kick Bluebeard out of the house and would not let him back until he figure it out. The moment he was kicked out, everyone's eyes changed when they looked at him. People would always say at the beginning: This is the guy who got exiled. But gradually, people no longer discussed Bluebeard, but would subconsciously gave him a look of contempt when he passed by. Bluebeard became a nobleman who was scorned.
Bluebeard eventually worked as a handyman in a tavern. He was very busy every day and could only sleep on a hard bed in the wine cellar. It wasn't until it was bright and he could see the slightly red sky through the window that he could stop and take a breath. On this day, the door of the tavern was pushed open, and a girl who looked like she had just experienced a long journey walked into the tavern. She was dressed in a light dress, the like of which Bluebeard had never seen before. The girl sat down, pushed her golden hair behind her ears with her hands, and bought a glass of chicory wine. Bluebeard likes chicory wine, it has a sweet taste despite its bitterness. Since then, the girl would always go into the tavern when it was getting dark and purchase a glass of chicory wine. Finally one day, Bluebeard plucked up the courage and decided to say hello to the girl. He was very surprised. The girl did not reject him, but greeted him happily, probably because he had become accustomed to being looked down upon. In the next few days, Bluebeard and the girl chatted together. The girl said her name was Zahra and that she came from the Kingdom of Sandurria in the middle of the continent. Her family sees her as an object and prepares her to marry a wealthy local businessman. She was unwilling, but had no way to resist, so she always locked herself in the room and cried alone, hoping that God would change her fate. Until two weeks before the wedding, it seemed that God had responded to her wish. An army from the north came to the Sandurria Kingdom. They kill everyone and loot everything they see. Everyone panics. At night, a fire broke out in Zahra's home, and she took the chance of the chaos to find a bag of coins and escaped from her home. Bluebeard listened to her story, his soul was completely lead by Zahra's sweet voice. He fell in love with her.
Two years later, Zahra and Bluebeard were working in the tavern and had a child. Bluebeard decided to name his daughter Nyxara, after his favorite flower. "Gotta put Nyx to sleep now! So do you, go to bed earlier! Good night~" Zahra kissed Bluebeard's cheek, turned around and entered the wine cellar. Bluebeard continued to clean the cup with a smile on his face. One day, Bluebeard thought, one day I will save enough money to take Zahra and Nyxara out of this tavern, open a flower shop, and live a simple and happy life.
Suddenly, a man panting entered the tavern. Bluebeard knew him, he was a regular at the tavern. "Quick, pack up your stuff, and go to the port! " Bluebeard was stunned, but he could see the fear on the man's face, and the man's facial features were tightly curled together. "Those northern barbarians attacked Caphtoria, and our army is in ruins! They have already broken into the castles... If we set off now and head towards west, maybe we can find a new place to live...! so leave! while you can!" Everyone in the tavern began to panic, got up and rushed towards the door of the tavern.
Bluebeard stood behind the bar, with only a sharp tinnitus in his ears. Bluebeard turned around and saw Zahra and his daughter sleeping soundly. He suddenly heard the sound of a tsunami. He felt the ground begin to tremble and the dust on the roof seemed to begin to fall. He saw again that the floor of the wine cellar was covered with blood and mutilated bodies. But Bluebeard stood still and clenched his fists. He won't run away, Bluebeard thought, he will protect his family and his favorite Nyxara flower, even if the flames spread and the earth collapses.