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The Puppet for the Goddess' Revenge

The Puppet for the Goddess' Revenge

Chapter One - Not Who You Think

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MishanAngel
Jul 20, 2025
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The Puppet for the Goddess' Revenge
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Chapter One

Not Who You Think

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I sat quietly in a study that my parents had dropped me off at while they were meeting with the king and queen. The real king and queen, in the real castle, in Delia City. My fingers pulled at the sash of my dress. We had dressed in our finest clothes, but seeing the servants and even the slaves working, we were far underdressed. Mother had said she was embarrassed, but we didn’t have the time or the money to get anything nicer.

The couch I was sitting on now was some of the finest furniture I had ever seen. Our village chief didn’t even have something this nice. He had real cushions on his chairs, but he forbade us children from sitting on them. When they told me to sit, I didn’t know if I should sit on the floor or on the ornately decorated couch. The queen had been nice enough to show me, and I just followed her directions.

She was almost like an angel, dressed in gold and white. I didn’t know you could have belts made of gold, or sashes, but she looked beautiful. It was hard to tear my eyes away, but I didn’t lift my head. We were just lowly subjects. Our village had around a hundred people focused on the farmland that spanned around us. It took us almost a week to arrive in the capital city.

Squeezing my hands tight, I tried to control my shaking. I was so scared to be here. It was only a month ago that I was helping my mother pick goju berries in the forest. That night, the Goddess had chosen me. Her mark now branded into my back after a searing light took over me over. At least, that’s what my parents said.

A few weeks later, knights from the capital city came to our village. Saying that the king and queen had dispatched them. The queen had received a vision that the one our Goddess had chosen to help save the world was in the village. Everyone pointed to me and so the knights escorted my parents and me here.

Tears filled my eye, but I tried to hold them back. Save the world? Me? I just had my eighth birthday. My parents gave me a new dress and a woven basket that my mom made, adding a lovely blue ribbon between the straw. I was small and nothing about me at all was special. The Goddess had to have chosen wrong. She should have chosen the prince or princess. Or maybe one of the knights. I was nothing. A nobody in the face of all these nobles.

I jumped when the door slammed open and a boy rushed in. He slammed the door behind him, turning around and surveying the room. His eyes landed on mine and widened. Clearing his throat, he bowed to me and I was about to stand, telling him I was not someone to bow to, when someone yelled from the hall. Putting his finger to his mouth, he raced to the other side of the room, where he opened up a cabinet and climbed inside.

Shocked, I sat there, staring at the cabinet until the door slammed opened again. Jumping, I stood up this time, my hands tight together. An older man with a grey beard much longer than I had ever seen, stood huffing in the doorway. He nearly stumbled back when he saw me.

“My apologies, my lady. I didn’t realize that someone occupied this room.”

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