۞ XVIII ۞

"I THOUGHT SO," DONNA LOOKED AROUND HER BODY, enjoying the view of her familiar lilac fire surrounding her body completely. "I'm not using that stuff again. While my magic was blocked away, I didn't grasp how terrible it felt, but now that I got it back? Gods, it feels like I'm finally alive again," though I can't deny that it was good for me to experienced what I did. She finished in her head.

"I trust your words enough to not want to experience that, ever, my Lady," Gabriel mumble staring at the flames around her body in awe. What a wonderful power! "I've wanted to ask you this for a while now, my Lady, but how does having Hell Fire running through your body feels?"

Donna grinned, "Want me to show you?"

He gulped, knowing very well that if he said yes, she would have the guts to do that right away, "No, no, no, my Lady. Thank you, for the offer. My curiosity comes from the fact that I'm originally from the Royal Capital, as you may or may not know, and the Royals possess Fire magic, and according to my uncle who is their physician, they feel constantly hot, sweat a lot, and prefer to stay in colder environments. According to what he told me, they also tend to explode lots of things when angry, but they don't get covered in it as you do," he pointed to her body. "As of now. I've been confined as your father, the Marchioness, and the twins' healer, so I hadn't gotten a chance to voice my curiosity to you. Can you get burned as well if you get near a brighter fire source, or are you immune?"

Oh? He's genuinely curious. I thought he was kind of joking about it, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Donna straightened her back and tilted her head to the left so she could see him better with her only good eye, "I've never encountered a stronger fire source than my own to test it out, so, I believe I'm fireproof. My Hell Fire magic is still a bit mysterious to me, and for all I know, it's stronger than the normal Fire magic that the Royal family and others possess."

"Is it because it can also burn in water?" The healer leaned closer.

"I think so. But as everyone knows, this lilac fire," she said while admiring the flames dancing all over her skin, "is called Hell Fire because legends say it's what burns in the depths of Hell. For all we know, I'm the first human to have it, which probably happened because of mom's deal with the Devil. Still, it burns everything and in any environment. It doesn't simply burn hot as it also burns cold. It's volatile and I don't have full control over it. Yes, I can use when I want, but it's like... it has a will of itself. I do not choose when it burns hot like the common Fire magic you know, or when it burns cold causing something like frostbite but with a worse affect to the victim or the place. It's powerful enough to turn anything to dust no matter if it burns hot or cold!"

It's deadly! It was the unsaid sentence both understood.

"My feelings make me lose control. There are... things I cannot do because of my power. Feelings that cause such a lack of control over my magic that I can't even touch anyone without potentially harming them in a deadly manner," as what happened to Anthony.

"Like what?" Gabriel asked clueless.

Donna licked her lips and Timothy looked up at the ceiling as his cheeks turned hot. "Such as sexual desire," she said bluntly. "I can't kiss, nor can I do anything that usually happens after that."

Oh, poor Princess. She'll die a virgin. "Gods', that isn't a thing that happens to normal Fire wielders. You think it must because of the deal Her Highness, your mother, made with the Devil?"

"Maybe. The thing is, my power is one extremely hard to be tamed, to control, to subdue according to my will, Gabriel. When I'm in a high level of desire or anger, I tend to be like this," she moved her arms to make a point with the flames dancing over her skin. "These are the two emotions that are triggering to me. Sometimes it happens if I'm in a very sad state, or an overjoyed happy one, but it's rare, since I don't really overflow with neither happiness or such big amount of sadness. Desire and anger make me burn in a dangerous way, and I'm constantly under high levels of anger given my circumstances," Donna grimaced.

"How could you not be?! It's understandable, Princess." If it were me on her place, with that power, I would have exploded all these people and this damn castle, altogether, years ago. Timothy clenched his teeth. "Especially when you have a so-called family that do such horrible things to you."

"Is that why everyone is the castle avoid getting near you?"

"It might be. Or it might be because of the whole deal-with-the-Devil stuff," Donna rolled her shoulders. "People tend to get scared with it. To most people, I'm the Devil's sacrifice. The Devil's child. The demonic Lady. They don't see me as me, but as a product that was sold to the Devil and would be claimed by him in 21 years. That isn't very attractive to anyone. Plus, the difference physical features that I…" Donna gulped, "That I used to have. My eye color, pointy ears, my weird hair, my powers. None of it was very inviting to anyone, especially when I'm a noble Lady!" Though I only act like one when I have to, which is extremely rare. "In summary, they tend to avoid me because of it all."

"And because you are explosive," Timothy added.

He isn't wrong. Donna grinned, "And because I'm volatile! As he said, I'm explosive. Not just that, as I always lacked filters, and I always tend to speak my mind, which isn't considered very Ladylike. I'm stubborn and reckless as well. Dangerous. I also enjoy danger, and situations that I shouldn't be in as a Lady, which gives them more reason to talk shit about me." All because they prefer taking care of others lives than their own.

They stayed in silence for a while, until the healer decided to speak again, looking around Donna's chambers, "My Lady, where's that cute nanny of yours, who was always around you?"

Oh, he thought she was cute? I agree, Lilian's cute. "I sent her away 5 days ago with my Knight, to the Royal Capital. She's from there, her family is there. I'll be dead in less than two days, she only had me here in the Marquise, so, as I didn't want her to be here when I turn 21, I sent her to her family. That way she'll be safe. I didn't want her to be used by any other noble, because she was sent to me by the Royal family when my mom was pregnant with me."

"How old is she?" Gabriel asked messing with his hair.

"Lilian is 38 years old, she's from November 8th," Donna smirked. "Why? Were you interested in her?"

Gabriel blushed, "She's adorable. I've talked to her before, and she was very lovely. Was she in a relationship?"

So, he does have a crush on her. Too bad. Donna nodded, "With my Knight, that's why I sent him with her. They had began getting together three years ago, quietly. I even made two obsidian rings for them." I was never so close with Sir Neo Satori, but she was. They are quite cute together. "She promise me that if they have a daughter, her name will be Donna, and if it's a boy it'll be Don, is my honor. Isn't she cute?"

"It is. I'm glad she's married, she deserves a good man," I had hoped it could be me, but that's alright. As long as she's happy. I can still find my love.

"Neo is a good guy. But how old are you, Gabriel?"

He blushed, "Oh? I'm your mother's age, my Lady. I mean… as old as she would be if she was still around with us."

Donna tilted her head again, annoyed by her lack of left sight, "My was 23 when she had me. So you are 44, right?"

A nod, "Yes, my Lady. March 19th."

"I'm from December 15th, but you all know that. It's December 13th today, after all," she giggled. "I bet that when I'm gone, that day will be a cursed one. 15 of December, 10 days before Yule Day. How unfortunate. It's good that people celebrate Yule during the entire month, though." She got up slowly and walked to the bookshelf on the left wall.

"Let me help you, Princess!"

"No. It's okay. I can walk, I'm not invalid, Timothy." As she got there, she took A Love for the Princess from where she had put it, the block of sticky lilac notes, and a her black quill. Donna laid down on her back with her belly down, and opened the book. When she felt their stares, she stared back at them, "What?"

"What book is that?" The Knight asked.

"A romance," she grinned, "with the Devil!"

They gasped, "What?"

Donna giggled, "I'm joking. It's just a Prince and Princess romance. You should have seen your faces, hilarious. A special person read and added his notes to it, so I'll read, add mine, and give it back to him, so he can keep it something to remember me."

Timothy scoffed, "A special person?" Was it Lewis?

Her grin widened, "Yes. Now, shut up, Timothy. My time is literally limited, and I really want to finish this. If you want, you can take one of the books on the shelf and read while we are at it, like Gabriel is doing. Although I doubt you are the brainy type who likes reading," she mocked. "In any case, there are some books that are full of images, that might be entertaining to you. But I have a feeling you might like the books of the easternmost top shelf," she winked with her only eye and turned back to the book in her hands.

I'm not the reading type, but did she just call me dumb? "Why?"

She didn't look at him when she answered, "Spicy!"