"I don't know what to do, Mary. Where could she have gone!?" Julie was walking with Olivia's personal maid, Mary, early the following morning. "She didn't pull the rope so I figured everything was fine, but I went to wake her up and she wasn't there! What am I going to tell the Countess and Duchess!?"

"Calm down, Julie, I'm sure Lady Lucina's fine." The two maids approached Olivia's room. "Lady Olivia's explored every inch of this castle, so I'm sure if we ask her where the best places to hide are we-" As Mary opened the door, the two maids stopped in their tracks.

"Shh," Olivia was awake while lying in bed and put a finger to her lips when she saw the maids. Still curled up in the blanket was a sleeping Lucina who was enjoying the best sleep she'd ever experienced in her life. Olivia silently mouthed the words, "We'll be down later."

"Of course, my Lady," Mary gave a quiet reply before giving a bow and leaving the room. Julie's shoulders relaxed as she felt a massive weight lift off her. Mary chuckled and patted her friend on the back. "See, I told you it would be fine."

***

The warmth that surrounded me was unlike any I had felt before. It wasn't necessarily better than when my mother held me, but it wasn't lesser either. I hoped this would last forever.

"I never knew she had such a cute face." I heard Olivia's voice and felt a finger lightly poke my cheek. "I know she'll fill out into a real looker later, but why wasn't there any art of her as a young kid? She'd probably have won some popularity polls out of sympathy votes if there was." She really liked to say weird things, it seemed. "...It'd probably be cuter if she was fed properly so her cheeks could fill out more," she bitterly mumbled and poked my cheek, again. I cracked open one eye and looked up. "Ah, did I wake you?" Olivia was still lying next to me while propping herself up with one arm as the other lightly poked my cheek. She gave me a soft smile that felt just as warm as the blanket around me.

"Wake up?" I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes so I could see.

"You can sleep some more if you want, but it's already past eight."

"It is!?" I shot up and rolled off the bed causing Olivia to jump in surprise. This wasn't the time to be lying around in a daze of sleep. "I need to get ready!"

"Ready for what?" Olivia sat up and moved off the bed.

"If I hurry, I can get some leftovers before they're thrown out!" I didn't know how past eight we were, but if I didn't eat then it would be inconvenient for my mother since we're staying at the Duchess' for her to become less stressed! Though this assumes the Ordrins eat at the same time as the Felswore did, I didn't want to risk it.

"..." Olivia was oddly silent as she watched me unwrap myself from the blanket and begin neatly folding it. Even if I was in a hurry, I wanted to make sure there wasn't any dirt on it since I didn't want to spit on Olivia's kindness for letting me use such a nice blanket. "You...can't go, yet." She reached over and pulled the rope next to her bed that Julie said was used to call a maid.

"...Huh?" I froze. Did I do something wrong? I inspected the blanket for anything wrong, but couldn't see anything. Julie and another maid I didn't know entered the room.

"You called, my Lady?" the unknown maid asked while giving a bow to Olivia.

"Mary," Olivia sounded scarily determined and put both her hands on my shoulders, "Tell Becky to bring five of the outfits my mother gave for Lucina to wear to my room."

"At once, my Lady," Mary replied and went back out into the hall.

"U-Um-" Olivia's grip on my shoulders didn't loosen.

"Julie," Olivia said while dragging me to a chair in front of a mirror, "Start brushing her hair."

"Of course, my Lady." Julie had a warm smile on her face as she grabbed a brush and walked behind me.

"B-But I-" I needed to leave to get leftovers!

"No buts!" Olivia put her finger on my mouth to get me to stop talking. Mary returned and grabbed a second brush to begin doing Olivia's hair after she sat down in a chair next to mine.

"...Okay." I guess I wasn't allowed to eat breakfast because of whatever I did wrong, earlier. I hugged my stomach to-

"No weird thoughts, either!" Olivia seemed to read my mind and chastised me from her chair. "I also haven't eaten breakfast, so we'll go get some together after we get dressed."

"!?!" Together!? I know she's nice, but even kindness has limits. If we did that, she might lose the love of her maids and the Duchess. Did she not know what I was? "But, I'm a bas-"

"You're my friend," Olivia cut me off with a voice that left no room for rebuttal. "And, I want to eat breakfast with my friend."

"..." There it was again, that throbbing feeling in my chest. What was it, and why did it make me feel so happy?

"...Hmm," Julie had a puzzled expression on her face as she tried to brush my long hair. But no matter how much she tried to brush my hair down, large bunches of my hair would spring back up. "Should we water it down?"

"That...won't work," I sheepishly replied. I already knew the frustration of trying to straighten my hair to be like my mother's only to fail every time.

"It's like a thorn bush," Olivia commented as she watched another bunch of my hair spring back up. While Julie continued to try and tame my hair, Becky and another maid came in with five dresses slung over their arms. "Leave it, Julie." Olivia got up off the chair and looked over the five dresses.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"I-I can wear the dress I came in," I tried to reason with them as I didn't want to dirty more of Olivia's old clothes. But the only response I got was everyone in the room looking at me like I had just spoken complete nonsense.

"Lucina?" Olivia approached me after grabbing one of the dresses. She had that scary look, again.

"Y-Yes?"

"Raise your arms."

"My ar-!?" As I raised my arms up, Olivia grabbed the bottom of my nightgown, lifted it up, and pulled it off.

"You can't wear a nightgown under a dre-" Olivia tossed the nightgown to one of the maids and turned back to me with the dress ready to go, but her voice caught in her throat. She stared at me silently which was making things more awkward.

"O-Olivia?" I was getting scared because her face was distorting into one of anger. "I-I'm sorry!" I didn't know why, so I started apologizing since that always calmed down the maids back at my family's mansion. I did my best to cover the bruises from my fall down the stairs on my arms with my hands, but I couldn't cover the ones on my legs. "I'm-"

"I'm sorry," suddenly, Olivia was the one who apologized! But, why!? I was the one who made her angry so it was normal for me to apologize. I started to panic, but Olivia gently grabbed me by the hand and walked us over to the full-body mirror. "I got so excited to see you dressed up that I made you uncomfortable. I just think you'd look really pretty when properly dressed." She held the dress to my shoulders to mimic what it would look like if I were wearing it. It was a dark shade of green. "I'm sorry if I made you scared." Her eyes wouldn't leave the bruise on my right shoulder, and her smile was melancholic.

"I-It's okay." I didn't know a five-year-old could make such a smile.

"Julie, help her into this one."

"At once, my Lady," Julie said as she took the clothing from Olivia and started helping me put it on. When she finished, I looked at myself in the mirror and couldn't even recognize myself. My hair, while still unkempt, was more tame than normal and wasn't a foul mess. Dirt didn't cling to my face thanks to the bath I took the night prior. The clothes were clean, its colors still vibrant, and it flowed without any repair stitching.

"Now, see how pretty you look?" Olivia appeared behind me wearing a blue dress that matched her eyes and put her hands gently on my shoulders as she looked me over in the mirror.

"Y-...You're also pretty," I tried to speak clearly to give my compliment, but I stumbled over my words.

"Thank you, Lucina." Olivia didn't make fun of me for it and accepted my praise with a smile on her face. "Let's go eat!" She grabbed my hand and led me out of the room while Mary and Julie silently followed behind us. "Oh, Mary, is my father back?"

"The Duke and Lord Derik returned at sunrise, my Lady."

"Good, I need a favor from him." Olivia had a confident stride as we made our way downstairs to the dining room.

"-weather should be better today." A deep male voice came from the other side of the double doors to the dining room. "The gazebo shouldn't be too wet after letting the sun dry it off for a few hours." When the maids opened the doors, I was faced with a large dining room that had a long table running down the middle of it. On one side sat the Duchess and a boy who looked Adam's age with black hair and blue eyes; I guess Lord Derik. On the other side sat my mother who was smiling and enjoying breakfast with her friend. I'm glad she was able to smile, and eat again. And, at the head of the table sat a mountain of a man with short white hair and whose blue eyes were like frozen lakes of ice; the Duke of Wortrest. The Duke turned to us when we entered and said, "I didn't know a week of my absence would have you sleeping in, Olivia?" Even though he was chastising her, his tone was playful and the mood remained light. "Such flimsy determination won't make you an Aurister."

"My aura can wait if it means helping my friend enjoy a good night's sleep," Olivia rebuked. She let go of my hand and we were led to opposite sides of the table; Olivia sat next to Derik while I sat next to my mother. As I approached, my mother's face was filled with shock at the sight of me clean and in good clothes.

"G-Good morning, Mother." I had never been to a family meal, before, and didn't know what to say.

"...You look beautiful, Lucina," my mother praised me as the shock on her face melted away into joy. She gently patted my head and stroked my hair when I sat down. "I can't thank you enough for your hospitality, Duke."

"Please, Countess Felswore, you know you are always welcome in Wortrest," the Duke replied and held up his hand to stop my mother from speaking such words. "Alice has been remise without her closest friend to gossip with." The Duchess' cheeks lightly reddened, but she didn't refute the Duke's words. "Now, this must be your daughter." His gaze fell on me. It didn't matter that he didn't seem to hold any hostility towards me, the iciness of his eyes made my gaze go to the floor.

"Lucina greets the Duke." Luckily, I didn't mess up the greeting. The Count hated hearing me introduce myself with the name Felswore so I left it out, but that caused the Duke to raise an eyebrow at me.

"Don't mind him, Lady Lucina," the Duchess spoke up when she saw my expression. "Richard won't lay a finger on my guest. He may be the Duke, but I hold the leash in this house."

"Alice!?!" My mother quickly covered my ears with her hands. Derik seemed unphased by his mother's words, and Olivia looked like she was holding in a laugh.

"Leash?" I asked innocently.

"...Never mind," the Duchess diverted her eyes and ate another piece of pork. The air was good, but that made me feel weird. A plate was placed in front of me with slices of bread, a large piece of pork, and a whole apple. Was...this a test?

"It's okay, Lucina." My mother noticed me squirming and staring at the plate. "Eat as much as you want."

"I can?" My innocent question sent a chill through the room. The servants who were present shifted uncomfortably with many giving glances to the Duke. The Duke, for his part, held a neutral expression on his face, but his eyes were watching me with curiosity. I don't think I could bring myself to eat even if I wanted to because of the stares.

"Father," Olivia spoke up. Hopefully, she could alleviate this awkward atmos- "Can Elder Arkin perform a paternity test on Lucina?"

"!?!" The Duchess nearly spat out her drink, my mother almost choked on her food, and Derik froze while looking at his sister in bewilderment. The Duke made no move to immediately answer. A paternity test, the Ritual of Legitimacy, was a ritual that Lady Alm's Elder worshipers could perform. The ritual would show a person's birth parents after offering a strand of hair into a fire and reciting a prayer to the goddess. Because Elder worshipers of any of the gods were uncommon, and busy more often than not, the ritual wasn't something just anyone could ask for, but the Ordrin family had an Elder of Lady Alm working directly under them; Elder Arkin. The Duke put his silverware down, wiped his mouth with his napkin, interlocked his fingers while leaning forward on the table, and looked at my mother.

"I apologize, Countess, for my daughter's rudeness. Please, ignore her unbecoming jest." The expression on my mother's face was completely unreadable, but her hands were trembling.

"Father!?" Olivia stood up from her chair and slammed her hands on the table. "I'm being serious!"

"Olivia Ordrin!" This was the first time the Duke raised his voice. He held the strength of thunder with his words alone. "That is not a decision for you or I to make for the Countess. Plus, the Count has already shown his disapproval of the use of the Ritual of Legitimacy. Lady Lucina is under the Count's guardianship, so his word is final."

"But-"

"You will speak no more of this!" Ah...my presence, once again, ruined the meal. I hung my head low and looked at the beautiful dress Olivia was letting me wear. A dress I would need to return when my mother and I left after our two-week stay and we would once more return to how things were.

"L-Lady Alm told me to ask!" All eyes shot to Olivia as she made her declaration. While I only knew the bare minimum of theology from what my mother would occasionally tell me and I understood that invoking a god's name in this context, especially Lady Alm's, was never to be taken lightly. The gods held very real influence in the world and were not known for being forgiving to those who spoke their names in vain.

"The Hearth Mother...told you to ask me to have Arkin perform the Ritual of Legitimacy?" The Duke's words weren't as dismissive as before, instead they sounded almost frightened. "Olivia, you must never speak lightly of the gods. Do not-"

"But, it's the truth!" Olivia defiantly stated and gestured to me. "Lady Alm told me that Lucina is a legitimate Felswore...in a dream I was given last night!" The air was tense as Olivia continued, "The goddess of loyalty, and the protector of families is saddened that a legitimate child is being treated so coldly and wants it corrected! I know my words will not be enough to convince you, or the Count, of such a fact so I ask that Arkin perform the test! Please, Father!"

"..." My mother's mouth opened, but words wouldn't come out. It was like she was in a daze. The Duchess looked to the Duke for an answer as she was lost on what to make of her daughter's words. Whispers danced along the walls as the servants quietly talked amongst themselves.

"...Countess Felswore?" After collecting his thoughts, the Duke turned to my mother with a grim, yet calm expression. "While I cannot ignore the Count's will, I also do not wish to turn my back on the Hearth Mother's so lightly. I am willing to lend Arkin for this, but I leave the final decision to you."

"..." My mother's hands clenched in apprehension and she was sweating nervously. I knew the pain she was doing her best to keep at bay because it was something we both shared. Both she and I had lived five years under the Count's order to not have me tested, but now Olivia was invoking the name of Lady Alm in front of everyone and she looked serious. My mother looked at me, once more. She looked at the clean dress I was wearing that didn't have any repair stitching or holes. She looked at how clean my skin was without a speck of dirt after being given a proper bath. She looked at the plate of food, more food than I had ever been given in a single meal at the Felswore mansion, that was in front of and meant for me. "Duke Ordrin," my mother spoke with a shaky voice that threatened to end in tears, but she pressed on with the same determination she showed back at the mansion when we first left for Wortrest. "Please have Elder Arkin perform the ritual."