(From Violett)

Out of all the people I have met in my life, Mother is the one I love the most. But I’ll be the first one to point out that she is not a normal person. It is not that she talks to herself, the weird words she uses sometimes, the lack of manners a noble lady of her position should have, nor how she shows her emotions so openly. Not even her uncanny ability to surround herself with people who care for her. There is something else about her, something I couldn’t quite describe for the longest time. I am not sure I can do it even now. Saying it poetically, it is as if her shadow was much bigger than it should be.

This happened when I was around 5 years old. I had been left at the mansion hidden within the Cedar Forest under the care of Alyssa, after Mother and Maxwell had gone to find a cure for the curse of Calliope. The trigger of such rash, but well intended and probably necessary action had been Prince Gaius falling victim to that terrible illness. Not only that, but the Queen and King had also been infected, according to what I and Julius heard while we were eavesdropping. Julius tried to act as if he was strong, going to visit his brother constantly and trying to make him smile and keep his good spirits high.

But I knew him better than anyone else. We had been together since we were kids after all. He was my best friend, and even at that age, I felt we were meant to be together. I didn’t fully understand what that entailed though. I had no ambition of becoming the next queen, I just wanted to be at his side. In my immaturity, that led me to often challenge him to a competition. Countless times we had tried to figure out who was the fastest running, who could stand on one leg the longests, who could jump higher, etc. That’s the way the child me showed her love for him.

But at that moment, it was breaking my heart seeing him trying to hide his sadness. Even when he told me he was fine with a smile, and reminded me that my mother was looking for a cure, I could see how worried he was in his eyes. I also noticed how little he was eating, and how he slept several nights on a chair next to his brother, despite Gaius telling him to sleep on his own bed. Maxwell had said that the sickness probably wasn’t being transmitted from person to person, so I wasn’t worried about them spending time together. But I could see Julius withering away, maybe even faster than his brother. I needed to get him out of that room, distract him even if for just a while. Suddenly, I got an idea, and went running towards him.

—I’m sorry Gaius, I’m taking Julius for a while! —I said, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him away.

—Don’t let him come back until he eats something! —the brother replied with a smile, he most certainly shared my concerns.

—Vio? —he said, using the nickname he called me when the adults weren’t listening— W-where are we going?

—Let’s go to the garden and gather some flowers for Gaius. That always helps people when they are bedridden, doesn’t it? But before that, we’ll eat something together in the kitchen.

He knew I wasn’t letting him say no, so he just softly agreed. I couldn’t help but think this usually bratty kid looked cute when he was vulnerable. Sigh… I am certainly my mother’s child.

—Shouldn’t we tell Miss Alyssa we are going out? —Julius asked, while we were eating a sandwich I had precariously prepared with peanut butter and strawberry jam.

I was going to ask an attendant to make something more elaborate for us, but I couldn’t find any at that time.

—She is probably still asleep, but it’s fine. Us dragons have a sixth sense for danger! If anything happens, she’ll be there in an instant —I said, repeating what Alyssa had said to me before—, besides, you have your sword, won’t you protect me with it?

—Of course!

The plan was to stay in the garden in the backside of the property. We have gone to that place a few times already, and we have always found at least someone taking care of the flowers and plants. But that time, there was no one to be seen. We kept walking, confident that the garden had a tall fence surrounding it, and the only door to the outside was always locked. We kept walking, and the terrain became less maintained. We became surrounded by trees with so much foliage that they almost covered the view of the sky, replacing the sparse and well trimmed ones that were closer to the mansion. I remember thinking that the gardeners were slacking on their job. We kept walking, almost as if we were being pulled by some force, but I wasn’t worried, we could always see where the mansion was when we turned our heads. But it was getting really far, and pretty dark.

—Violett… —I thought I heard someone whisper, in the voice of my mother.

Despite how ridiculous the situation was, I didn’t think twice and took a step towards where the voice had come, but I got yanked in another direction.

—Vio, look at that —Julius said, still holding my hand.

I was confused for a moment, feeling as if I had just woken from a dream. Julius was pointing to several branches broken in the cups of the trees on the side of the road, as if something huge had fallen through it.

—Come, let’s see what it is! —Julius said, pulling me into the wilderness.

I was worried about leaving the path, but we didn’t have to go further. We came across a wounded crow, a rather big one, but certainly not big enough to cause such damage in the tops of the trees.

—Did something fall on top of it? —I asked, but there wasn’t any sign of anything aside from the crow.

—We need to help it —Julius said.

I started to ponder the pros and cons of messing up with the delicate balance of the environment, when I felt hands on my shoulders.

—What are you doing here? —someone whispered in my ear.

The scream that came out of my mouth wasn’t quite lady-like. When my brain restarted, I was able to recognize it was Alyssa, who was laughing at my reaction. I was so embarrassed, that was not something I wanted Julius to see.

—No, but seriously, what are you two doing here? —Alyssa said once she had laughed enough, trying to look as the responsible adult she was supposed to be.

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—We were going to pick up some flowers for Gaius… and we somehow ended up here —I said, a bit embarrassed.

—And we found a wounded crow, we can’t leave it here in this state —Julius added.

—Hmmm, well, let’s take it back to the mansion. You two got pretty far from it, if it hadn’t been for a maid that saw you leaving the garden and called me, you might have gotten completely lost —she said, half nagging and half mocking us.

We held the crow with a piece of cloth, and took it with us as we walked back. The crow was unexpectedly calm through the whole ordeal. I have heard they were smart animals, but considering its wound, and that people it hadn’t known before were handling it, I would have expected at least some resistance.

During our return, I noticed the path was more rugged than what I had remembered. And when we crossed the gates of the garden, it confirmed what I had started to suspect. We had somehow left the mansion’s property and walked deep into the surrounding forest. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed the gates on our way out, it was practically impossible to miss them out. I also couldn’t believe someone had left them wide open. I was going to mention it to Alyssa, who had been walking behind us all this time, but when I looked back, she was looking back towards the forest. I felt the air becoming charged with static.

—Alyssa, is there a problem?

—Ah? No, don’t worry —she said, turning back to us, and locking the door once we had crossed it —I just thought I saw something like a deer.

Her reaction was weird, but Julius was running to the mansion already, and I got distracted and just followed him. We met up with the maid who had seen us get out of the garden, who happened to know a bit about animal’s care.

—Oh my, poor fellow, they must have been shot with an arrow. I can’t believe even in these remote places there could be hunters, moreover some who would shoot a tiny defenseless bird like this one. Fortunately it only hurt his wing and not any of his organs —she said with a mellow voice, despite pulling the wing of the crow with very little delicacy.

The crow was now complaining loudly, and even trying to peek at her, but she was weirdly capable of keeping him pinned against the table with one hand, while using the other to give him the needed treatment. After she had patched his wing, the crow seemed to be happy to be away from her. Julius' face brightened a bit, and he went to show the bird to his brother. Alyssa went to a couch with one of her romance novels at hand. I, on the other hand, stood there for a moment.

—Is there a problem, young miss?

—I… I think so. Have you been working here since we arrived? I didn’t think I had seen you before.

Her appearance was quite noticeable, her skin was of a very dark brown color, and her hair was silvery white. My own skin was more brown than the average, but hers was even more so. Even when wearing the same uniform that the other maids wear, her unique appearance was quite noticeable and attention grabbing. There is no way I could have missed her.

—Ara~? Don’t you remember me, young lady? I am Mara, I was here the first few days after you arrived, but I got to run an errand at the capital, so I just made it back this morning.

—Is that so?

—Yes. You could ask my colleagues, I have worked for the Queen for almost two decades now. And I am pretty sure I talked with Lady Alyssa before I departed, isn’t that right?

—Mmm? Oh, yeah, I saw her before —my supposed caretaker answered without raising her eyes from her book.

I was still a bit suspicious. After all, despite my mother's best attempts, I had learned about the woman who tried to kidnap me when I was just a baby. Sophie and Gabby mentioned her, before being told to shut it by Carmila. Curiosity got the better of me, and the next time we visited the royal palace, Julius and I snuck into the library, and checked on the criminal reports. I still couldn’t read too well back then, so I only got the gist of it. Iridia, a member of a cult, infiltrated our home and tried to kidnap me. Weirdly, it didn’t mention how her attempt was foiled.

The person right in front of me could be just like Iridia. After all, someone had to let the door open for us to get out. And I still couldn’t remember having seen her, even when we just arrived there. But the tailor-made uniform she was wearing fit her perfectly, despite her being pretty tall and having both broad shoulders and hips. The other attendants also recognized her. And finally, she had been the one who alerted Alyssa that we had gotten out of the garden. That wouldn’t make sense if she was the one leaving the door open.

I didn’t have any reason to be suspicious of her. But even if I had, I don’t think I would have been able to focus on her for long. From that day on, Julius dedicated quite a lot of his time taking care of the crow, which he had named Lamazu. He treated his wound, and tried to teach the bird tricks, to then show them to Gaius. Julius seemed less stressed, and even Gaius was looking better.

At first I tried to join them, but even though I was impressed with how smart the crow was at first, seeing him repeat the same trick over and over turned dull pretty soon. I still tried to keep them company, just staying in the same room while reading a book, but I just couldn’t concentrate. Their voices keep distracting me. No, it’s not fair to blame them. Truly, it was my heart what was distracting me.

I… was feeling abandoned, to be honest. Of course, part of it was that I missed my mother. Being around her had a soothing effect on me, and since she had been gone, weird thoughts had been forming in my head. I wanted Julius to pay more attention to me. Even when I had taken him to the garden because I was worried about him, part of me just wanted to be with him. For him to pay attention to me. And just like that time, I dragged him away from his brother a few more times. I showed him how good of a singer I was, told him about the book I was reading, and any excuse I could think of. But then he started to decline my invitations.

—Vio, we already played early, I want to be with Gaius a bit longer —he said—, I’m eating and sleeping well, you don’t have to worry.

—Ah, I see. Sorry for bothering you —I said with a smile, but I was seething inside.

I went to my room, but I was too restless to do anything. I couldn’t even distract myself by listening to music. Lamazu had apparently stolen the dial button of the three radios in the house, and hidden it somewhere. I was starting to feel some animosity against the crowd.

I hated that Julius had rejected me, but I hated more that he was still thinking I was doing it for his sake. My heart ached, but so much kicking around had left me exhausted, and I started to doze off. I wasn’t looking forward to falling asleep, for several nights at that point, I have been having nightmares. I could never remember what they were about, I only had a feeling of anguish and dread when I woke up. But that dream was different, I can still remember clearly to this day.

I saw a gorgeous lady, wearing a beautiful dress, with several jewels and accessories making her scene even more stunning. She looked a lot like mother, but younger. But the way she moved, talked, smiled, and even how she breathed, it was all too deliberate to make her look as elegant and imposing as possible. Mother could never pull such an act.

—Lady Violett, allow me to open the door for you! —someone said.

—You idiots, move out of the way, Lady Violett is coming through —another one yelled at the crowd that seemed to idolize that woman.

—Kyaaa! Lady Violett looked at me, I am going to faint!

I couldn’t believe it, was that woman supposed to be my future self? I started to “remember” things that should be obvious for Violett Dragonroot. I am the most brilliant star of the academy. No, forget the academy, I am the most beautiful and the smartest in all of the country, if not in all the continent. Everyone either fears me or admires me. I am the one that sits above everything and everyone. This is as expected, after all, everything and everyone belongs to me. This was the natural order, an edict by the gods themselves.

Then… Why was Julius acting cold towards me? Whenever I invited him somewhere, he would always make up excuses. Whenever I offered him my help, he told me he had it all under control. And his eyes… he tried to hide it, but I could see the disdain in his eyes. Had I done… something wrong? There is no way, I am Violett Dragonroot, no matter what I did, it could have never been considered wrong. So then why? Why did he keep refusing me? Was it because of the supposed ********? No, no matter how convenient of an excuse that would be, I couldn’t blame her. Not fully at least. She had only appeared recently, and the last time we got along fine was… when exactly? Ah, right, when we were at that mansion in the Cedar Forest.