3 of Sunscrown 976 A.N.C.
When I was a little girl, there was something I liked more than anything in the world…
"Ah! Mom, you are back!"
I ran toward her and held her with my arms. She seemed a bit surprised but smiled and crouched down to my level.
"Rouge, I already told you. A proper lady should say mother, not mom," she said, stroking my head gently.
I parted with her and nodded.
"Yes, let me try again! Good afternoon, Mother!"
She nodded in satisfaction as she stood up.
"Listen well, Rouge. Even though we are in this situation today, never forget we are proper ladies!" she said, her hands on her hips. "You shouldn't mingle with that kid – how is she called again… well, no matter, she is the lowest of the lowest so don't involve yourself with her, am I clear?"
"Yes, mother!" I replied.
She smiled again and patted my head. "Good. How was your day, my little 'ange'?"
"Hehe, actually, actually, listen Mother, I—"
That was my favorite moment. As soon as my mother would get back from work, I would talk to her about everything I did at home in the meantime. That day, I could see some signs of fatigue in her moves. She probably worked more than usual but tried to act as if it was nothing.
I noticed but didn't say anything. She had to go to work early and only went back when the sun was down, but she always took the time to listen to me. To be honest, I think it made her happy to listen to my pointless banter. It allowed her to forget about our current situation, and see that everything wasn't so bad.
That was my hope at the very least.
At the time, I didn't know what to do to make her truly happy. I couldn't do anything for her, but she still smiled at me every day, trying to obey my every whim. She was always saying we were "proper ladies" even though she had that collar around her neck.
It was true, we did not belong with the lower ringers, especially me. We were bibliomancers, a great family of bibliomancers at that. We couldn't possibly belong to the lower ring. That was a temporary state.
"Well, well, well, you sure had a lively day!"
"I would rather read a good book," I said, crossing my arms and taking the most superior air I could. "All those lower ringers' triflivialities worn me out!"
"*chuckle* That is a good mindset to have. I am proud of you, Rouge."
She patted my head again. That made me really happy. Back then, I could make her smile by saying exactly what she wanted to hear, and I knew exactly what it was. It made me proud.
"Though, the correct word is 'trivialities'. Tri-via-li-ties, not triflivialities," she said with a smile.
"Eh?! It is not?!"
"It is not."
Well… I mostly knew exactly, but we were happy so that wasn't so important. As long as she was smiling, I didn't care about the rest. I just wished things would continue the way they were. I didn't want anything to change.
Yes. Maybe that was when we started growing apart. When our interests didn't overlap anymore. At the time, I failed to understand how important being a bibliomancer was to her. If I did, maybe things would have ended differently.