Mira struggled to keep the tray balanced. Her blue eyes focused on each step she took, trying not to fall and spill the food. Once she reached the top of the stairs she sighed in relief. She was scared Yvette would blame her for that, and she wanted to make up.

She walked until she reached the furthest door; it was a worn-looking thing and very evidently hadn't received a new coat of paint in its lifetime. Mira found herself in a dilemma; she couldn't open the door without the tray falling over. She lifted her foot a little off the ground and kicked the door lightly, as if she were knocking on it. No answer was heard from the other side. If she didn't know better, she would think there was no one inside.

"Yvette... I brought lunch," In fact, Mira, as the adopted daughter of the Venere family, didn't need to bring Yvette food. But Yvette had been grounded after making a ruckus, and Mira didn't want to be blamed.

The door opened, a silver haired girl appeared. She was a pretty child, one year younger than Mira. And although she was pretty on the outside, she wasn't on the inside. Her emerald eyes bore into her like a flame fueled by fury, her pretty face contorting in anger. Such an expression didn't seem to suit her angelic appearance.

Mira stepped back, as if wanting to avoid her rage.

"Oh? I was unaware we had hired a new maid." She sneered. Mira couldn't believe what she had said.

She was about to refute, but Yvette's actions were quicker. She didn't even notice when the whole tray had been slammed against her face, dirtying her completely. She wanted to cry, she had decided to be nice but she ended up with the whole lunch on herself.

Just as she was going to throw the remaining food at Yvette, her brother appeared. Yvette and Luka were almost identical, leaving out the fact that their ages were not the same.

He had just come out of his father's study, a boyish smile plastered on his face, that soon turned into an angered one. He hadn't seen the scene unfold before his eyes, but he knew exactly what his sister had done.

"Yvette!" He roared, his light steps turned into long bold strides. "What have you done now?!"

At first, it was hard for him to accept the fact that his sister was so vicious. But after 4 years, he had learned his lesson. For the first two years, he would normally find excuses for his sister's behavior, but now, he no longer had it in his heart to forgive all her bad deeds. At least not when the target was his beloved Mira.

Yvette looked at her brother, she didn't seem surprised to see his reaction. "Mira tripped on the way here, you know she's clumsy." She explained, her face indifferent, as if she didn't care.

Luka was angered by her attitude and the lies she spat without hesitation. He looked at her, with a burning anger clearly shown in green eyes, and held Mira's hand.

"Good to know that you haven't yet reflected on your actions, I will tell father about this. You'll see, the more trouble you cause the worse it'll be for you."

Yvette turned around and slammed the door in their face.

"It's alright, don't be mad at her. She's just in a bad mood and I angered her just now." Mira wiped out the food stains on her face. Although she had wanted to smile to support her words, she was unable to. In the end she showed a weird face that didn't go unnoticed by Luka.

"Come with me, let's get you cleaned up." He led her downstairs, his expression remained unpleasant.

Mira tugged at her hand, "Luka, it's fine, I'll call the maids."

•·················•·················•

"Hah..."She sighed, relaxing into the warm water in the bathtub. She had asked her maids to let her be alone, with the promise that she would call them once she was finished.

She remembered the events that happened not long ago. She didn't hate Yvette, on the contrary, she liked her very much. She was a really pretty girl, but her personality was awful. She wasn't surprised, after all, Yvette had grown up as a pampered little girl with people's high expectations on her shoulders. But she had a fall from grace, the day of the mana ceremony, it was discovered that she held no mana within her body.

The talks about her no longer included words such as "beautiful", "princess to be", or "great potential". Instead, their conversations contained "useless" and "trash". Mira couldn't imagine the great impact it had over Yvette.

She thought Yvette's hatred was justified to some extent. After all, she had appeared that same day.

She remembered everything in fragments. How she had been running while holding an emerald she had just stolen, as well as how she climbed to the temple's roof to avoid getting caught.

She looked below her, her doe blue eyes sensing for any possible danger. When she thought she was safe, she looked into her hand, the one holding a little emerald. She knew how valuable it was, it would get her food and comfort for a few years. She wouldn't lose it.

As she made her way to the vines she had climbed, she tripped. Luck was not on her side, it was the mana celebration that day. And the temple's roof was wide open.

She fell.

She looked up in the sky, her eyes wide open. It seemed she would no longer need the jewel.

And just then, a green bluish light enveloped her completely. The breeze she felt as she fell, ceased. She was floating.

Mira opened her eyes when someone knocked on the door. She had fallen asleep.

"Come in!"

Immediately, a few maids rushed into the bathroom, the ones in the back whispering and giggling.

"Young Lady! We thought something had happened when you didn't call us! We almost rushed in here when you wouldn't answer!" The eldest maid, the one who had been with her since she had entered the house, said.

"It seems I fell asleep. There's no need to worry Greta." Mira answered, her face showing a bright smile. Her eyes then settled on the young maids, they kept on whispering things. "I'm interested in knowing what is so important for you to whisper and laugh among yourselves."

The maids jumped in surprise, "We're sorry Young Lady, we were just... the Second Lady is just being admonished." The maids' faces reddened.

"Oh? And you were laughing about it? Please refrain from making fun of my sister, I can and will kick you all out if it happens again. She's your Lady, and you are maids in this house." Mira glared at them, "I no longer require your services."

'I told Luka not to say anything to father,' she thought.

As soon as she finished getting ready, she started making her way downstairs. Along the way, she saw her brother Luka eavesdropping on their father's study.

"Luka!" She whispered, "this is none of our concern now! Yvette will get angry if she knows!" Mira grabbed her brother's arm and dragged him downstairs to the dining room.

"I just wanted to know if she would get punished accordingly." He huffed.

"There's no need to know that, she was already punished before." Mira looked at him sideways, "why did you even mention the incident to father? I clearly told you not to."

"She did something bad! She only ever gets light punishments!"

"Stop it Luka," they soon arrived at the door of the dining room, where their mother had been waiting for them.

"Mira!" Lilith Venere, the duchess, got up hurriedly and rushed towards her adopted daughter. "Are you alright? I heard what Yvette did! She's such a naughty child!" She touched her face, and later inspected her body, as if looking for an injury that was not there. When she saw there was no wound, she hugged Mira tight.

"I'm fine mother, it was an accident." Mira smiled, "let's sit down and wait for father and sister."

Just when she finished saying those words, the door opened. The Duke of Venere walked proudly inside, his head held high. His emerald eyes softened when he saw Mira. Behind him, Yvette appeared. Her face completely hidden by her long silvery hair, her steps weak.

"Let's eat now," Azrael said as he sat in his usual place.

"Father, why is Yvette dining with us and not in her room?" Luka immediately questioned.

"You don't need to concern yourself with that," the duke gave him a hard look. "I wanted to have a family dinner before all of you go back to the Academy. The holidays are over already."

"Are they? I wanted to spend more time with mother and father..." Mira pouted.

"Unfortunately they are, I hope none of you cause any troubles," his gaze was only fixed on the immobile Yvette.