Valerie quickly gets to her feet, and gets changed into a simple, loose, white dress with pastel blue accents from her clothing room, that went well with her brown hair and contrasted with her deep red eyes.

  She tied her hair in a neat bun at her desk's oval mirror and put on some slippers before pacing out the room, she didn't run but walked at a swift pace through the silent, red carpeted hallways, brightly illuminated by the afternoon sun.

  "Good afternoon, Young Miss," a maid with black hair and eyes, and a short stature said as she bowed slightly, with hands in front of her.

  Valerie turned towards the maid quickly, she nodded her head, "Good afternoon, Melissa," she said, before continuing her path hastily.

  Her butler, was walking the same direction as her, surveying the place and watching the rear field of the house from the right windows of the hallway.

  Valerie speeds up a bit more, approaching his figure, "Mr. Aldridge, do you happen to know where Rosaline is?" she asks with a raised eyebrow, standing around two meters from him.

  The butler turns to look at Valerie, a man with thick eyebrows and a compact build with average height, "Well yes, Young Miss, she should be in her chamber resting as we speak, though I would not worry, she is in good health."

  Valerie starts to start to walk again, slowly increasing her pace, "Thank you," she looks back to the direction she's heading and starts pacing.

  "My pleasure, Young Miss."

  She reaches Rosaline's room, and knocks gently on her door.

  "Yes?" a voice says from inside.

  Valerie opens the split door on the left gently and peers inside. Rosaline laid down in bed with her leg raised higher than the rest of her body by few small pillows, her leg was wrapped fully in bandages.

  She opens the door into Rosaline's room, a medium sized room that wasn't the biggest, but functional. White painted walls and a collection of pictures on the black shelves, drawers and desk she had in the room.

  One picture in particular on her desk always catches her eye, a younger Rosaline smiling at a camera with a baby in her hands, a picture Rosaline never elaborates on.

  "Valerie, glad to see you!" Rosaline says with a smile, as she turns to look at Valerie.

  Valerie sighs, walking over to Rosaline's bed on the left side of the room, "Thank goodness you're ok..." Valerie says, kneeling beside Rosaline's bed.

  "Well, yes, it's just a few fractures here and there, the doctor's healing acceleration ability comes in handy," Rosaline replies, she looks up at the ceiling.

  Valerie looks over at Rosaline's leg, her eyebrows drooping slightly, "Your leg... Does it hurt?" she asks, raising an eyebrow.

  Rosaline looks over at her leg for a moment. She closes her eyes and hums softly in a decisive manner, "A tiny bit, but it's mostly ok," she says, smiling faintly as she looks over at Valerie.

  "Your wounds have healed quickly, it's almost as if you had no wounds to begin with. Even though they were not as severe, it's still amazing," she sighs with a smile, "the benefits of being young."

  "No, Rosaline, not again..." Valerie replies, shaking her head gently, "I'd rather not here you talk about age."

  Rosaline laughs, "And am I just so predictable?" she asks as she looks off to the window.

  Valerie also looks off to the window of Rosaline's room, as silence takes dominance of the room.

  "Well... I think I'll take my leave now, and let you rest," Valerie says, slowly rising from her knees.

  Rosaline looks back at Valerie and nods her head, "Very well, have a good day then, Valerie," she says.

  Valerie looks back at Rosaline at the door, "A good day to you too," Valerie opens the door and leaves Rosaline alone, closing the door behind her.

  Valerie looks at the door of Rosaline, a palm on it gently, taking a breath in the silence.

  "Ah, Young Miss! What a surprise," a woman behind Valerie suddenly says.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Valerie flinches and turns around quickly at whoever was behind her, a petite woman with a bright face, of average height, slightly shorter than Valerie standing at 5'5. In her hands she had a tray with a tea pot and cup, and some pain relief medicine.

  "Oh... Anna, you startled me," she says, a hand on her chest, her other hand pressed on the door behind her.

  "Oh, my apologies! I was right on my way to see to Miss Rosaline just not to bring her this tea and pain relief, it was not in my intention to do so," she smiles.

  "It's ok, I understand, but anyways, I'll let you get back to your business," Valerie moves aside and takes a few steps backwards.

  "Thank you, Young Miss!"

  Valerie finds herself wandering her home. She walks through a loggia, taking view of the flourishing garden on the right and decides to take a walk over, cascading down the small, white concrete stairs into the garden.

  She walks on the white and grey bricked walkway, to the white gazebo built elegantly with artistically crafted blue stained glass on its roof, and under it was a brown swinging bench that could fit around five people and a round, black, marble table with brown wooden chairs surrounding it.

  Valerie takes a seat on the swinging bench, looking over at the medium sized pond to the left of the gazebo, watching the way the light from the sun reflects off the waves of water.

  People my age usually scroll on social media to pastime, It must be fun, for them to do it each time they get the chance to, but father always says it's a safety hazard, so why do they use it if that's the case?

  Her eyes move up from the pond to the trees marking the boundaries of the garden, swaying in the wind and their leaves rustle.

  Footsteps approach Valerie's location, ones she cannot distinguish, "Well, isn't it the Scarlet Maiden?" the voice says.

  Valerie turns to the right and back, looking at whoever spoke, she noticed the voice.

  Valerie sighs, looking back to the front, rolling her eyes, "Good afternoon, Selene, but I would prefer a greeting first if you were to talk to me," she crosses her arms and legs, and focuses back on the pond on the left.

  The woman sits down next to Valerie, she had brown hair, slightly darker than Valerie's and the same red eyes.

  She smirks, leaning forward to try seeing Valerie's face better, "Don't you know you shouldn't tell your elders what to do? Especially your older sister?"

  Valerie looks back at Selene, uncrossing her arms, "That doesn't matter, where've you been all this time?" she asks with a raised eyebrow.

  Her smirk widens as she leans back on the bench, arms crossed, "With my fiancé of course, it's proved to be way better than staying here."

  Valerie raises her eyebrow even more, "Right... And why'd you suddenly return? You've been gone for months now."

  She sighs, "Gosh Valerie, you sound like you want me gone already, I just wanted to know about the little awakening incident two days ago, come on spill the tea."

  The awakening happened two days, I was asleep for that long?

  Valerie looks at Selene for a while, before she looks to the side, resting her chin on her palm, "Well, a lot happened. I don't want to talk about it."

  Selene's eyebrows droop, "Hm, you're so boring," she looks at her nails for a while before she glances at Valerie, "Then show me something interesting, let me see the refraction," she grins.

  Valerie glances at Selene with the corner of her eyes before looking back at the pond, "I don't know how to use it. You know that's not how it works, I still need an alteration before I can bring it out by will."

  Selene rolls her eyes, "Boring... That's really disappointing," she stands up, "well then, I'll leave before I catch your boredom," she walks off on the garden's walkway.

  Valerie turns to look at Selene's fleeting figure, holding her chin with her hand.

  You're just jealous, aren't you? You always have, after all.

  Valerie thinks.

  The darkness of the night has arrived, and the soft, white light of the moon shines on the surface of the land.

  Valerie was asleep on her bed in her room, resting soundly after the day, her room was dark, the room was lit by the faint ambient light piercing through the curtains of her room.

  A small stream of warm light appears in her room as her door slowly opens and someone comes in.

  Orion, took a step in Valerie's room in a white button down shirt and black dress pants, a red tie in his hands.

  He closes the door behind him and walks over to Valerie sleeping on the right side of the room and observes her sleeping form for a bit.

  He takes her blanket and adjusts it just a slight bit. He takes the chair at her desk and brings it over to her bedside, watching her as he thinks.

  Am I really doing my best to protect you, doing my best to take care of you as a father?

  Orion thinks in his head.

  "But then again, how would you know... When you can't even remember to see her on her birthday?"

  ".....You hide under that hard shell of yours, hoping it will keep you safe, but it won't. If you don't toughen up, you too will break. And when you do, no one will help you. You'll just be one big liability..."

  He sighs, looking to the side at some of the pictures Valerie has on her shelf, pictures of herself, some with Rosaline, and other people. She smiles in most of them, but never the ones with him...

  I really did fail you, Valerie... I apologize.

  He rises back up to his feet, and drags the chair back over to where it was at the desk, and heads over to the door.

  He takes one last glance at Valerie.

  "And just so you remember, it took both of us to make the monster Seraphina ended up being,"

  It's not going to be the same way, I won't allow it.

  He leaves the room.

  Orion starts to walk away from her room.

  "Mr. Sinclair, your departure for the Sinclair family house in the East is in the next hour," a man behind Orion says that he could only distinguish as the steward.

  Orion continues walking, "Yes, thank you. have my usual departure kit items prepared and have it taken to the car, I expect the usual while I'm gone."

  The steward nods, "Yes, Mr. Sinclair," he says.

  Orion walks a bit more before he comes to a halt, and looks back at the steward with the corner of his eyes, "And you do remember what Valerie is to do tomorrow, right?" He asks.

  "Yes, Mr. Sinclair, it has already been planned out and there are no interruptions that seem possible," the steward says.

  "Excellent," Orion replies, before continuing to walk away.