CHAPTER IV: THE ONE CALLED "MOTHER"
Celestine sits quietly as she gazes at the bustling ballroom. The orchestra music embraces her and the gentle breeze caresses her face. She hadn't seen such a beautiful ball before. At least, not after her mother passed away. The people were rejoicing and dancing—chests against chests, shoulders against shoulders, and elbows against elbows—they were dancing too close too one another. But the joy on their faces cannot be masked by the warm glow of the gold chandeliers.
Amongst the crowd, she saw her father with a woman standing proud and tall beside him. A soft smile plays on his lips as he peers at her. Celestine could see just how much her father cherishes the empress. If her mother hadn't died, it would be her dancing with him right now. And she, the beloved daughter would be sitting down with friends her age, giggling as they shove cake into their mouths.
But that was all in Celestine's head.
⌈ Celestine... ⌋
William's voice rings in her ears. "Do you need food, Uncle William?"
It's been a week since she started coming in and out of William's room. She learned how to read from him, although she still finds some words hard to understand, but her determination is what kept her going.
During that week, the man told her to stop calling him mister because he felt like an old man if she continued to call him that way. Celestine asked if he was okay being called Uncle, and that's how it came to be.
⌈ I do not need food, you brat. Come here quick, I have something for you. ⌋
Celestine jumps down from the balcony and gives the ballroom one final glance before running towards the detached palace. The music faded slowly as she ran further away from the ballroom. She wondered what William would give her this time.
The last time he gave her a cup of flame berries and mugwort, and the ratio was enough to kill an ordinary child. But as William said to her before, she wasn't an ordinary child. It was a simple enough answer for her to shrug it all away and do what he asked her to. It might be fishy, but William was a mage after all. At least, she believed he was a mage.
"Ah! You've arrived. Come sit," he ushers her toward the table and handed her a worn out book. Celestine looks at it with a frown and meets William's gaze.
"What is this Uncle William?"
William clicks his tongue and sits down in front of her. "It's a book I've had for a long time. I figured that I might as well give it to you." He says as he picks up the cup from the table.
"But..." Celestine bites her lip. "What do I do with this? Is this interesting?"
William pauses for a while and looks away. "It's from someone I know." He says.
Celestine examines the book. It was a very old book and the cover had already faded away with time. It had a few stains on the leather cover and the binding looked like it would give up any time soon. But she noticed a name engraved on the bottom right corner of the book. She looks at it closely and gasps.
"Is this from mother?" She asks with tears in her eyes.
She never forgot her mother — not her name nor the memories they shared when she was still alive.
William did not answer but only closed his eyes. Celestine wanted so badly to ask how he got this and why he has this in his possession. But she figured that it would be right to ask him another time.
She jumps down from her chair and gives William a big hug as thanks. "I figured that it wouldn't be fair for you if I didn't return this to its owner," he says.
"Will my questions be answered if I read this?"
William nodded. "I couldn't read it. The words never appeared in front of me. But it might for you since you are her daughter."
"Thank you so much, Uncle William! I'll read this in the garden!"
He gave her a curt nod. "Just make sure you come back before sunset."
"I will!"
Celestine sits under the tree of her favourite garden accompanied by the white fox that followed her around as a child. She eagerly opens her mother's memento book and peers inside. The pages were old and crumpled but the words written inside seemed to be quite new. It was as if it had just been written moments ago.
The book mentions of a race — a kingdom that exists far away from where she is now. A kingdom that humans do not remember nor know that exists. Her mother speaks of her brothers and sisters waiting for her back in that home and the parents that would always open their arms to her safe return. She speaks of the time when she first met Celestine's father.
Celestine read her mother's book with curious eyes and a wide smile. And with every page turn her curiosity grew even more, about beings like her mother...
And...about herself.
She turns one more page and the words disappear, ending with a big ink spill and the words — "...live and forget."
