Jolen had gone away with himself and scavenged through the forest next to the house. He was looking for any sign of Jilliace’s partner. The sun was still out and not many animals were seen wandering as well, this gave a sign. It was very quiet compared to any other day they had not met up together. You could not even hear birds singing, each step he’d taken further in. Then, finally the glimpse of a dark cloak was caught in the distance. Behind a tree was the mysterious partner, a man whose hair was dark purple, and skin was pale, near snow. His eyes almost seemed like looking into a sparkling endless dark void, and he held fangs that could seep into flesh. This man’s his name was Louis Hur Kloray, the rouge vampire who had already been of-age, making his first interaction with Jilliace somewhat reasonable.

“Louis, finally.” Jolen grunted his way around tree roots and vines. “Let’s start heading out, Jilliace has to keep constant watch over Mother since she is currently in her care. I have the scroll to act as a map.”

“Perfect.” Louis grinned and waited for Jolen to take the lead. “Guide the way dear brother.”

Jolen first took some horses from their stables, using them for their travels. It took around the rest of the day and they camped throughout the night. Lillian took note of the fact that Jolen had gone out in search for the great wish of the glimmering forest. She knew the secret in order to gain the opportunity to be in present of the Goddess Queen Hyrestia. Lillian would not dare let anyone other than the leader of the household to find it, and there was only one who was already chosen to. Throughout their continued travel, they reached the forest, but found nothing as they entered. It was disappointing, up to where they both separated all over to meet again without finding the stones. Jolen had given up, and simply suggested to return home, but Louis was persistent. He often stayed under his hooded cloak to avoid the sun, he was a vampire but not too sensitive to light and his drive for blood was not as strong. As much as Louis would continue searching day and night, he could not see anything in the result. With stretched days in their return home, they’d been gone about four days. They’d had an argument just outside the front gate of the main house. In an abrupt separation, Jolen went inside, and Louis left to the forest. As Jolen walked through the front doors, he’d immediately seen his mother with Lillian by her side, helping her stand.

“Jolen?” Karia walked down the stairs, leading to the front door. With Lillian holding her arm, they slowly walked down to meet his level. “Jolen, where have you been?”

Jolen turned away and walked off, leaving them standing at the end of the stairs. He’d been infuriated with his plan failing. The strong feeling of hatred seeped off of him and others avoided speaking to Jolen at all the rest of the day. Lillian’s perspective to spectate on this matter seemed comforting at best. Karia continued to worry about Jolen and why he’d been sneaking around. Though, she knew she had more important things to focus on. Lillian helped walk Karia all the way to her office and assisted with any paperwork which had to be done. Karia spoke with her, ranting on about how conflicted she was with giving the responsibility of household leader to Jolen or Jilliace. Kari and Mizutaka were other options, better to think of in that matter, at least that was what Lillian had suggested. The paperwork for Karia had begun to pile up over the past days she was absent in the house. There was more stress, giving her a hard time to focus and placing things down for a moment. Lillian asked if she would need to send a maid for water and Karia accepted, feeling lightheaded.

Kari lightly knocked on the door to her office. “Mother…?” She waited for a response and heard Lillian speak instead of Karia, allowing her inside. She’d seen her mother drooped over the desk, showing the fatigue was strong. Kari quickly walked over to her around the desk, helping pull her up from the chair. “Mother, you must lay down. You have only just now recovered…”

Karia slightly looked at her and then around, barely seeing much of anything. “I thank you, Kari… but what is it… that you need from me… at this time…?” She felt a slow pause in walking and then having told to sit down, cushioned onto a couch, still inside her office.

“I can ask you at a later time, right now, you need to rest.” Kari managed to safely let go and pat down her mother’s clothes, lightly adjusting how it should look. The deep care she held in her heart for Karia was greatly shown, even at her age, 15.

Although it was still unexpected, Karia’s health had been slowly deteriorating due to the heavy amounts of stress falling beneath her. It was unclear of what had truly been the root cause of this ordeal, but surely it may have been all the work and trifling matters with Jolen. Karia certainly did not want to end up in the same predicament as her late young sister Hosh found herself in long ago. So, Karia had chosen to numb out her smaller emotions using her magic as soon as she’d gotten better. It was only a matter of time at that point, dealing with everything at once. Karia managed to keep her sanity in due time, lasting another year of silent mental torment. Karia had laid in bed for days on end in her last moments, mainly allowing Kari and Mizutaka to speak with her rather than the others.

“Kari, you are turning 17 soon, correct?” Karia sat up in her bed, weary eyed but still able to move her upper body just fine. “What would you like for your birthday?”

“My birthday?” Kari slightly laughed at the thought, placing down a tea cup. Her past birthday was filled with exploring the nearby forest alongside Karia. Although, due to the current state of her mother, she knew that would not exactly be doable. Kari smiled, almost painfully covering her thoughts. “I would love to simply be here, spending my time having cake and tea with my amazing mother.”

“Oh, my dear, Kari.” Karia smiled at such a response, simply touched by how much Kari has grown already. “You need not worry so much about me. I will be alright, even with my legs sleeping more often, you know how they complain.” Karia spoke her last sentence with such a joking tone, even Kari had a giggle at it. It was a success to take their minds off of the truth.

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“Alright, but I still want a cake, let it be huge!” Kari gestured with her arms, continuing this joking atmosphere. They both had a laugh, knowing that could not be eaten with the amount of people.

Though, they soon came to a slightly sudden change in conversation as Karia had brought something unusual up. “Kari, for this birthday, I would like to give you something very special.”

Kari looked at her mother, slightly concerned as to what this could possibly be. “Something very special…?”

“Here,” Karia turned to look behind her pillow, taking out a scroll. “With this, you can find your gift, years from today.”

“What is it for?” Kari had been handed the scroll, not opening it yet.

“It tells you as you look through, but for now, refrain from taking a peek just until your next few birthdays.” Karia smiled, slightly laughing at herself.

“I understand, thank you, Mother.” Kari smiled as well, putting this new scroll into her bag. “Would you like me to ask for more tea?”

“Ah, yes dear, thank you so much.” Karia nodded as she took out a book from pillow, it was titled ‘Strong woman with the Pink Hair’ by Unknown.

There were plenty of times that book had been read to Kari as a child and still as a young adult. The story was of a woman with long flowing pink hair, this was her own unique quality. The key to the story was that she had a mission, this was to save the world from destruction. No one knew her name nor why she had this mission. She’d simply lived in a small cottage before her life was turned over by rouges robbing her of her family and belongings. She was then told to travel into the glimmering forest to find a goddess. This was the one goddess who ruled above all others, Queen Hyrestia. This girl who had been in such grief was given a blessing to also become a goddess and save the world from great destruction; that was her mission.

Kari went to the maid, requesting more tea and walked back to her seat by the bed. She’d noticed the book title and lightly giggled. “That book again? Mother, you have read this to me several times.”

“And every single time there is a lesson that you should know.” Karia giggled as well, so sure that the book held great importance. “A woman should never-”

“- Back down on her world.” Kari continued the saying for her, the one saying the main character repeated throughout the story. “I have heard that many times as well.”

“It is such a wonderful book.” Karia smiled and took out many more with the same name. “I have the whole series.”

Kari stared at the odd number of books for just one story, she was slightly surprised it had more than just one. “I never thought it would have more.” She sighed and lightly fiddled with her dress.

“Well now, you never thought to read them yourself.” Karia laughed as she placed them down beside her on the bed. She then began to the story again from the first book, just as she’d done multiple times before.

Kari sat there accepting her fate to listen as she read the book to her for the hundredth time. She smiled, happily enjoying the moment she'd been given to spend with her mother. It would not have been and easy feat to ignore the obvious signs, but it was to fake the pain. Karia’s health would only decline, making it hard to move her upper body let alone her lower. This slowly ate away at her, not exactly knowing what she'd been inflicted with. In a time without trained doctors who had the proper technology, there were very slim chances of knowing. Although Kari would still often visit her mother every day. A couple years later, she would take a rolling chair and have Karia sit on it, guiding her around the forest. The spent their little time together within 10 months, just before Karia was unable to do much of anything in the end. This was just before their last few moments together, in Karia’s bedroom.

“Kari, in order to keep this bloodline from having been dispersed; I heed you to keep Jilliace from that man.” Karia tried her very best to keep her voice at a normal pace and tone. “It is imperative that you keep him away, at all means…”

“A man, what man?” Kari listened very carefully, unsure about this man as to never hearing about anything Jilliace had truly done. “I never heard of a man with Jilliace…”

“They have become far too close-” Karia began coughing abruptly, barely able to breathe in the process.

“Mother!” Kari quickly grabbed a cup of water on her side, holding it up for her mother to drink. “Please do not speak any longer, you are not well…”

“I must.” Karia pushed away the cup, leaving Kari dumbfounded in her place as she sat there. “I will give you another gift, just like the scroll.” Karia slowly lifted her arm, placing it on Kari’s empty hands. She mumbled something under her breath as Kari tried to listen, but she couldn’t understand a word she was saying.

Kari then felt a sudden rush of energy flow throughout her body. It took her a moment to fully feel this, having another more subtle energy flow towards her heart. Then, Karia had slumped her body over Kari, making her worry. She attempted to awaken her by shaking Karia’s shoulders, but nothing worked. Kari was unsure of weather she was still alive but then felt her wrist for a pulse. She felt a weak pulse, she knew Karia was barely alive. It was days on end that Karia hadn’t woken up, worrying Kari, Jilliace, and many of the servants. Jolen was not entirely sure that he’d been a part of Karia’s life to care enough, seeing how distant they’d gotten over the years. This became even more of a concern to the others, watching Jolen wander off alone, often leaving the main house. Mizutaka was still too young to fully understand what was happening with Karia, but he had known she soon was not going to be there any longer. Around this time Mizutaka was 16 years old by then, still learning the ropes and even getting closer to Jilliace and Jolen. Although, he was very close to many of the servants, making conversation and humoring them in their spare time. Lillian, who would often be around Mizutaka or Kari; was able to know how outgoing Mizutaka truly was with others. The two often spoke when Kari was stuck in their mother’s room, keeping company. Lillian had stood outside the doors if not inside, but that was how they’d spoken. One more year passed as Karia’s condition has worsened even more. The whole house was struck with deep worry, even for other houses that had been under the Shiarama’s name, order, and care. Then, Jolen suddenly went missing, even Louis was not found when Jilliace ventured out into the woods, looking for both of them. Her search was cut short as she had given up waiting for anyone to appear, from weeks to months. Kari continued to stay with her mother, even reading a few books from her library as she kept company. She would read Karia stories she requested, slowly becoming more distant from the living. Kari had grown into a fine woman, now 21 years of age. Through enduring the moments that she sat aside her mother’s bed; Kari was almost unable to continue covering up her own pain after another day of noticing Karia's health decline. Karia was barely able to speak, even moving her body was then out of the question. Throughout this remaining time that Karia had to speak with the others before she departed, she had told Kari to look through her desk. She’d known Kari was already chosen to be next in line to become a leader of the household, and so she had her read a note she left for Kari that sat in the center drawer. Kari read aloud the note, word by word as it was longer than expected. Karia weakly smiled in relief that the note was read by the right person in time. Kari slowly stopped speaking as she finished reading to the end, realizing something was wrong. Just then, in the still quiet bedroom, Karia Shiarama had taken her last breath.