When the carriage stopped in front of an imposing-looking mansion, the first thing I heard was an excited little scream:

“Brother!”

Half of my body dangled between the first step of my transport and the ground, while my head, which had previously been looking at the man who was holding out his hand to let me down, turned in the direction from which a woman was approaching at a hasty pace with a jangling set of keys in hand. To one side, a servant girl lit the way.

"How old you look!" Dad winced instead and I looked at the lady with a touch of surprise.

In the light, her light hair shone and the smile that settled on her face was stronger than her words. I wanted to find a word to describe its beauty; but in the dark, it caused me more fear than admiration and I couldn't help but look around, the shriek from before still lingering in my head.

"As always, courtesy is not your forte." Without looking at her, my Dad helped me down the stairs, and only then, with a sigh, did he turn around and receive the sparkling little woman's hug.

“Bah! Courtesy, not that courtesy gave you food," she replied dismissively, and a smile tugged at the edge of my lips. ¡How funny!

The hug was short-lived, for she, as if on fire, released her grip and rushed around me before stopping and taking my hands. Her gaze, too warm, fell on my face.

"You've grown too big, darling. I no longer remember your face.”

“It has been a long time.” I looked right at her too and kept a soft smile that hid my discomfort. I didn't remember her and if it weren't for the fact that she called out her relationship with my father, I was sure I wouldn't recognize her.

"Oh! Don't talk to me about time! I get old mentioning it.” Her hand went to her chest, and with the other she pulled mine into the mansion. “But it has favored you, without a doubt, and your beauty must come from my sister-in-law and not from my brother.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but I didn't know what, exactly, would be appropriate. It was fortunate that I didn't say anything because she laughed and shot a quizzical look at the man who stood a few steps behind, completely ignored.

“The trip must have killed them, there is a great distance between Eirán and Treva.”

Oh, I didn't even want to remember it.

I looked back for a moment to look for my maid, and when I saw her too busy unloading, running around, making sure nothing was broken, I gave up the idea of calling her.

"But luckily for you, darling, I've already got your room ready and ordered a bath to be run for you," she said, then looked at his brother. “I have to tell you, Corwin, there wasn't a place that didn't need work. In what head is it that only a few servants take care of everything... Ah... I better not say anything. I get mad thinking about it!”

“It's natural, I don't come to the capital very much and I have no use for it. It is a waste to leave too many servants in your care; the ones that are there are enough when I'm not around.”

“You could have rented it; You know what is the high season in Eirán.” She stopped at the steps and looked at me with bright eyes. “Music, colors, festivals! Oh honey, I can assure you, you won't want to leave once you see the beauty of this city!”

"I'm looking forward to it, Auntie." I smiled, more because her energy was contagious than out of any real expectation.

“Tomorrow I will come to see them again and I will bring my children so that they can spend some time together. You already know them, but I doubt any of them can remember.”

In fact, I did not remember them.

"Well, I won't take any more time. I already left everything arranged for you.” She spoke and gave the man a look. “I know you care about people, so I arranged for Nora and Daisy to run the place, the rest is in your hands.”

She handed the bunch of keys into her hands and left but not before winking at me. Her departure left us in the company of new and familiar servants who came and went with baggage.

I followed her back with my gaze, thinking how peculiar her character was, until my father's heavy hand fell on my shoulder.

“Felicity is… a special woman. You'll get used to it.”

With a resigned note, he gave me an amused look.

“Don't worry, it won't be as terrible as you think. Let's eat and rest, I have a feeling that tomorrow will be a heavy day.” Without giving a second glance to the servants who were still unloading the luggage, he sighed, and it seemed to me that his back was slightly hunched. Since we had left the house, Dad seemed tired, not just from the trip.

Needless to say, he wasn't the only one; however, we were already here and could only wait and see.

I stifled a yawn and hurried to the dining room, led by one of the old maids who weren't busy with the bustle outside. Regardless of whether the next day would be heavy or not, I ate and took a long bath. Three quarters of the annoyance I'd been feeling so far vanished along with Buffy's rubbing over my head. Her hands rubbed vigorously into hair that already felt heavy and scented it with lavender to restore its lost shine.

“Although I was curious about the capital, I must say that the trip was tiring.” She huffed as she dried my hair with a dry cloth. “The nights we slept in the open air, especially, were terrifying.”

"Terrifying? We were surrounded by guards.” I laughed and watched out of the corner of my eye as her brows furrowed. “But how come I didn't hear you say anything about the scream today? That was scary.”

“What scream?” Still in her work, Buffy looked at me puzzled.

"That scream..." Seeing the bewilderment in the girl's eyes, I stopped and made a gesture to show that it was nothing. Maybe it was my imagination, after all, if I thought about it, my father hadn't reacted either.

She didn't seem to care, since a few seconds later, she recovered her smile and went on with what she was doing, while I sank into a semi-sleep state.

"The marchioness seemed like a nice woman." Suddenly, as if bothered by the silence, the maiden spoke again.

"Sparkling, Buffy, like a butterfly." I laughed as I remembered the fluttering figure that was my aunt and propped my head on one hand.

“Like a goat, miss.”

I looked at her through the mirror and I could see her lips lift gracefully. I knew my maid couldn't keep her comments to herself and it was fine as long as I was the one to listen to her; but if someone else did, they wouldn't have enough mouths to excuse themselves. Nevertheless, I laughed.

It was true that the Marchioness seemed like a special character out of the most colorful fantasies, a mixture between the princess and the jester; funny in both senses of the word and her mere presence had the power to lift my spirits, as well as tire me out. To say that she was crazy as a goat, did not seem wrong.

"Miss can't be too nice here, they’ll eat you alive!" Buffy shook her head, the bronze curls that framed her face bobbing as she moved.

“Being kind is what corresponds, I don't think that the people of the capital are so bad,” Still looking at her, I spoke. I wanted to think that it was like that, for my sake and that of my family; although the note of concern hidden in my tone did not escape me, however hidden it was.

"As if they are," she murmured, handing me a clean nightgown before walking over to the bed and adjusting the sheets. “However, it can be counted as an interesting experience. You know that not many entertaining things happen in our lands.”

"Why not?" I claimed and tried to find some event in my head that could be of help. Treva was very pretty and peaceful. “How about when Miss Meir ran off with her father's servant?”

“Miss, that happened almost five years ago.” I was embarrassed to have to agree with her, but I was not resigned and I still wanted to refute. “I know you like our home, but it's interesting to get out of there... Maybe you'll find... Ah... I won't say anything, your face already says it all. Please lie down while I go for your tea.”

There was no need for me to say more for myself to know what my expression was; even though she hadn't told her about the king's letter, Buffy knew. It could be said that she was being very generous and kind by not mentioning it explicitly.

I took a step towards the bed as soon as I heard the sound of the door closing and I thought that this was it, I had already reached the capital of Belenus, Eirán, after almost twenty days of exhausting travel; I couldn't turn around and go back, it wasn't like I could oppose what his majesty said either.

‘It's the right thing to do,’ I also found it much easier to think of this as already decided. It was more comfortable for me to consider this situation as a duty than as an exciting adventure, it was less scary.

I looked at the open windows and the moon, which was still low, with some nostalgia. This city was very bright, its sky not as clear as that of the dukedom.

"Mum and Ewan should be in bed by now…if he didn't run away to play." A smile escaped me when I remembered them; Surely they would like to hear a little about this place and if I wanted to remember, I had to write it down. With that thought, I stood up and walked towards the desk in the room, there was already what I was looking for.

Satisfied with the efficiency of the servants, who had moved things to my room while I ate and bathed, I sat down and opened the notebook that had my nickname engraved on the cover. The Gea, which shone with gold, had not worn down even after so many years.

I hurried to the last entry and uncapped the fresh ink jar before dipping my quill into it. As soon as I got the point close to the parchment, Buffy walked into the room with a tray in her hands; the cup of tea gave off a sweet aroma.

"Miss, what are you doing?" My maid's voice held a bit of helplessness and reproach. “Aren't you tired?”

"It'll only be a few minutes, while I drink my tea. Go to sleep.” Without looking at her, I wrote today's date.

"How can I sleep when you're still awake?" She grumbled and put the cup on the desk, very close to where I could see it. Besides, I have to check that he drinks it.

I rested the pen on its stand and raised my hands in surrender.

"I'll drink it, I'll drink it." Without delay, I raised the porcelain to my lips and tasted the overwhelming sweetness of honey along with a bitter aftertaste. It was disgusting. I took a deep breath as soon as I put the mug back on the desk and fought to contain my retching; sometimes it was like that, I endured it better or worse, it all depended on how it affected me.

"Very well, since you finished it so quickly, I'll take the cup to the kitchen… Maybe I'll have some tea too, to sleep." The redhead looked at me with a half indulgent, half resigned smile. “I will be back soon.”

I knew this was the time she was offering me to write, because once she got back, she wouldn't leave me until she saw me with my head on the pillow. It could be said that this was the result of my lack of attention to time and the times that I had stayed up all night, immersed in something.

“Take your time!” I yelled with amusement and turned to look at the almost empty page. I could only read: 27 of the month 9 of 1520.

I hastened to dip my pen into the ink once more and traced, in broad strokes, the last days of the trip in which I had not been able to write, including what had happened before arriving at the mansion; I didn't want to make a big deal of it, but it had still left a lingering impression on me.

I paused in my drawing and returned my thoughts to that moment in which the horses refused to travel on the planned path.

“That scream…” No matter how much I tried to convince myself otherwise, I was pretty sure I heard it; the proof of this was that once again, as if still sitting in the carriage, my skin crawled.

My hand trembled and the drop that had accumulated on the tip of my pen due to my delay in continuing, fell on the yellowish surface and stained my words.

A trace of impotence filtered onto my face at the clumsiness and I took the small cloth that I used to clean my hands with the intention of absorbing the excess ink; However, to my surprise, no matter how hard I pressed, the dark liquid was not absorbed, but rather expanded more and more on the sheet.

I blinked in disbelief and opened my eyes wider to see what I was seeing.

On the parchment, which once contained my words, was a great black stain that ate the letters until there was nothing to see but black.

I covered my mouth with one of my hands, while the other unconsciously moved towards the journal; but as soon as my fingertips touched the surface, the black cracked and crackled, like broken porcelain.

I gasped in shock and pulled my hand back to my chest. It seemed to me that the blade was tearing itself apart at the same rate as my heartbeat, fast, furious. I breathed faster, to get some air into my congested chest and watched, with more fear than at first, how the ink contracted and disappeared until leaving a clean surface, with neat words, devoid of stain.

I brought my face closer to the newspaper and sucked in a breath of cold air.

The previously black sheet had returned to normal, but what I wrote, my words, my sentences, and the events described, were different.

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April 4, 2023

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Thanks everyone for reading! I await your comments to know how you liked the chapter.

I also want to let you know that starting next week, the updates will be made on Fridays between 7 and 10 pm approximately.

Flor~

 P.S.: Happy Easter!