Tea party

A month later, Selda's birthday was fast approaching. Since Selda was a small child, not yet mature, they only held a small tea party to celebrate her birthday. With two days left, Anna tried to find out who was attending her birthday and was busy from morning to afternoon.

Ever since Anna met Alessia, the girl has been pestering Anna's like a leech. She now had to hide constantly, just to be able to take a break. Currently, she was hiding in the library, while Alessia was training with Kurt. She hoped that Alessia would soon become bored with Selda and leave her alone but unfortunately Alessia was getting more and more involved in her life. She firstly stalked Anna, wanting to know how she made the dynamites.

"What are dynamites?" asked Alessia curiously. Anna had to go with a simplified explanation because Alessia did not understand that there were things that did not always have to involve magical ores. She thought that this would be enough to disinterest Alessia but that only made her even more interested with Anna. She then took part in Anna's small experiments, which drove her crazy, partly because Alessia has the bad habit of touching her things. One day, Anna was trying to extract some poison from a plant, and she needed to be very cautious. After one whole day of hard work, Anna managed to extract seven drops of poison. She was so proud of her accomplishment; she made the mistake of presenting it to Alessia.

The girl didn't even think twice before snatching it from Anna's hands and drank it. Soon the girl's freckled cheeks turned an unnatural hue of red and Alessia's muscles started convulsing. Luckily she had the antidote but didn't plan to give it to Alessia this easily. She was not going to die immediately, so Anna decided to give her a lesson by letting her suffer while she was explaining the potency of the poison. Curiosity killed the cat.

"Are you going to listen to me now?" smiled Anna while playing with the antidote bottle. Alessia gazing at the bottle nodded her head in agreement.

Since that incident, Alessia stopped stalking Anna all the time and gave Anna some peace of mind. The problem was that Alessia still spends a lot of time in the Palace, although training with Kurt, she still made sure to visit Anna in the morning and supper time. Another problem was the fact that her mother thought that this situation was a good thing. She was genuinely happy for her daughter to befriend someone. Selda was often shunned by other noble daughters, so when she heard that Alessia became a friend of Anna's, she gifted the Baroness an Entrance Token. This enabled Alessia to enter unquestioned the Palace, pestering Anna even more.

"What are your plans today?" asked Alessia after coming to form her training. She sat on the sofa facing Anna. She glanced at the books Anna was reading and rolled her eyes. As Alessia was athletically inclined she was not interested in them and she could not stand still during the lectures she had with her tutors. Now on the other hand, since her mother became the second's Princess tutor, she had to attend the lectures with the princess. She was disinterested in listening, but if this meant spending time with the princess she didn't object. Alessia was very much interested in finding the secret behind Anna's strong intellect.

"I don't know. I will try and create some steroids again."

"They never work!" exclaimed Alessia. She was bored of seeing the Princess fail again.

"I don't have a choice!" said Anna as she walked shoulder to shoulder with the girl. Although they were the same age, Anna looked like a normal 5-year-old, while Alessia was towering her with almost two heads. It frustrated Anna that she had to look up to even kids her age. She tried eating a nutritious diet, but it didn't show any results as of today.

"Why don't you train?" asked Alessia. Truly, she wanted to be the one that thought the princess how to wield a sword.

"Have you looked at yourself? Last time you made me run 10km!"

"And you were doing great!" Alessia patted Anna's head. As they reached the princess's room, four maids also came with supper. They placed the entrées on the table.

"Yes! Until I collapsed!" irritated Anna scared the maids with her harsh tone.

"Persevere!" declared Alessia. "You can't give up like that!"

"I have had my share of perseverance…thank you!"

"You see… I have recently heard from a soldier that he used to swim before he enrolled in the army. Why don't you try that?"

Placing the fork on the table Anna furrowed her eyebrows. She did not think of this idea. She did not have to start vigorous training because she could first get her body muscles leaner. Then and only then could she start training under Alessia's coaching.

"You are actually useful sometimes!"

"Thank you!" Alessia puffed her chest proudly.

~

After finishing the supper, Anna escorted Alessia to the entrance, said her goodbyes and went to her dressing room. Since her sixth birthday was fast approaching, the last few details needed to be taken care off, including trying her new dresses. The dresses Selda used to wear were brightly coloured and had many ribbons, beads and glitter on them, making them even tackier. She could not even imagine herself wearing them anymore, so she asked her mother for some new dresses.

"Your Highness? What dress would you like to try on first?" asked Mielda, showing Anna about a dozen dresses. She settled on a carmine short-sleeved dress. The dress was not too puffy and reached her knees, accentuating her cuteness. It fitted Anna well, so she instructed the maid to save this for her birthday. For the rest of the afternoon, Anna spent it like she would have done back on Earth when she felt down. Trying on clothes and drinking tea.

"Angus come out!" Anna commanded the snake while she took her notebook from the jewellery box.

"It's been a long time since we talked!" snake stretched his body and lazily plopped down on the sofa next to Anna.

"Yes…how long to think it would take for my soul to settle in this body?"

"If you are asking for powers, I still won't be able to grant them to you. Your soul is extremely fragile and cannot take my power yet." Anna was a pellicular case in Anguses opinion. Souls would settle in the new bodies within a span of one to two years, yet Anna's soul had not even begun settling in. A soul would hover inside the body for this period until it found its most comfortable place and then live there. It would concentrate in that place and its fluctuation will fade significantly before being muted by the beats of the heart. This way, no mage can detect the soul and cannot kill the person in one strike, making their chances of soul survival higher. By now Anna's soul should have at least settled in one place, but hers was not even moving. Its as if it did not belong there.

"Why won't my soul settle in? Is it because of Selda? Could a part of her soul remain in my body?"

"There is no possibility for that to happen." Smile. The delighted smile Angus gave Anna was disturbing.

"I made sure her soul died when we completed the deal."

"Y-you…are a fucking bastard!" Anna jumped in surprise. Selda died just like that? No trace of her soul will ever be seen...ever.

"Ho-ho! But of course! She dared to do a deal with this God…she should think twice before jumping." His green eyes glistened in a sardonic way.

"Does that mean Derick also has a different soul inside his body?" she felt uneasy waiting for the answer.

"No. I just erased his memories. That's the least I could do for him."

"I didn't think you would be such a romantic." Anna laughed. To think that this selfish creature would use his powers to erase someone's memories but then still place them in the same body. Anna could not figure out why he hated Selda so much that he killed her. She also had no sympathy for Selda that is why she quickly disregarded her existence. It is one thing to be ignored by your father and harassed by your sister, all understandable reasons for Selda's past behaviour. But to turn a blind eye to the people that loved her, like her mother, and to ignore their suffering, especially to the Duke's son who so plainly expressed his intentions for her, was a different thing. And Anna could not stand people who did not even try to understand this.

"Right then…" Anna tossed these thoughts in the back of her head and placed the notebook in front of her. Inside, on two pages, a map of the capital Salin was painted. On a separate paper, a detailed map of the Palace was drawn. She had drawn these, either borrowing the designs form books or walking around the Palace. For security purposes, only the Emperor and his closest aides knew them fully, but Anna needed to work with what she had.

"The best part to run out the palace…" Anna stood up until late at night. Rambling, walking in circles, drawing paths on redrawn maps, Anna continued to talk to herself. The snake sat on the bed, ignored her mumbles and choose to sleep.

"Aahh-haa…" the girl looked at the clock indicating that midnight was minutes away. With heavy eyelids, Anna jumped into bed and doze off soon after.

~

Her birthday finally arrived. Anna woke up late that day when her mother came into her room wearing a bright smile on her face.

"Happy birthday, my lovely daughter!" her mother hugged Anna squeezing the air out of her.

"Ghhh…!" Anna struggled but soon gave up. She accepted her mother hug and smiled. Today she would also get to meet her father which she has not seen in more than a week.

"I prepared a little something for you!" her maid handed a small white box to Anna. She opened it and inside, a small brooch sat on a white silky bed. A benitoite crystal shaped like a rhombus shined delicately.

"Thank you, mother!" she loved it. After getting dressed in her formal attire, Anna did not forget the small detail of pinning the brooch on. Looking at herself in the mirror she was pleased with her current look. Her long black hair had been curled loosely and tied with a purple bow while her lips have been tinted with a light red lip-gloss. Anna's long eyelashes fluttered weakly, revealing her two gemlike eyes. She twirled in the mirror giggling like a small girl as she was in high spirits. The maids who usually kept their eyes on the floor dared to look at her. These past few weeks, Anna kept a serious expression almost all the time and they feared that something was wrong with Selda.

Recently, a rumour circulated in the Palace that the Princess has been cursed and that she needs sunshine in order to survive. This is why the maids never objected Sleda's requests to visit the gardens alone. Even if she was missing for good hours at the time, the maids soon got accustomed to this behaviour and considered the rumour to be true.

But today Anna was giggling again easing her maid's heats. Her lovely appearance attracted a lot of attention, some soldiers even curtsying on her way to the dining area. When she entered, her father and sister were already sat there. Her younger brother, being only a 6 months old baby, could not attend the breakfast.

"Good morning, sister!" Aura hugged Selda clumsily.

"You managed to reach your sixth birthday!"

'You say that like you wished for my death every day.' Anna smiled back and thanked her. Her father got up from his seat and approached her. He awkwardly patted her head and said:

"Happy birthday…my daughter!" the butler approached them tacitly and lowered the plate he was holding so Anna could see. On there, a small silver key decorated with diamonds glowed as sun rays bounced off its surface. Bewildered Anna face stiffened and slowly she looked back at her father in confusion.

"Ahem…" her father cleaned his throat seemingly trying to form his next sentence.

"I have recently heard of your interest in visiting the gardens, so I have arranged for a garden to be redecorated. It is yours to play with."

"Umm…thank you father!" Anna brushed her emotions away and ran into his embrace. Surprised, at first, her father did not react but loosening up, he lifted her and accepted her warm cuddle.

'Her payment is satisfactory.' Thought her father while moving towards their seat. Anna glanced at Aura who was trembling, visibly annoyed. To top it off, Anna leaned towards her father and rested her head on his shoulder. This time Aura's mouth twitched.

"Sister! Sister, you haven't seen my gift yet!"

'Nor do I want to!' her father settled Selda in her seat.

Aura's maid came forward and handed her a black box. A poor choice of colour if done by mistake, but something told Anna that the colour was not a coincidence. She opened it cautiously peeping from time to time at Aura. Her bright smile crept Anna even more. To her disappointment, nothing happened after she opened the box. Inside, between shredded tissues, ten clear baubles came to view. They were made of glass and inside small beads of different colours glowed with a pure, faded green colour.

"Since I knew beforehand that sister would have a garden for her birthday…" she emphasised the fact that she knew before Anna this information. Anna was not sure why she said this. Was it to see her reaction knowing that she has a closer relationship with her father than Anna? Or was there a hidden meaning behind?

"Since I knew what father would gift you, I thought that your garden would not be complete without the last pieces of decorations. I was told these are magical crystals that will enhance the growth of plants. Please humbly accept my gift."

'Huh? Magical crystals?' They were precious every different kind having a different purpose when activated. How did she get her hands on so many of them? And activated that is!

"Thank you…sister." Anna placed the box on the table and her maid Mielda took it, so it did not inconvenience Anna.

"Sister, if that is all right with you, I will take the liberty to ask you for permission to decorate the garden with you. I also want to admire the garden." Anna stared at Aura trying to read her emotions. But this viper hid hers very well, even for a child as herself.

"I wouldn't want to bother my sweet sister with such trivial matters."

"Selda don't say such words to your sister. Why don't you spend some time together while doing this?" her mother reprimanded Anna leaving her no escape route. She had to accept her sister request. Anna never felt safe around her sister and frankly speaking, she did not look forward to their time together.

~

Later that afternoon, Anna went downstairs to check if all the preparations were going well. She went to check what her sister was doing, mainly because she was afraid of what she might do at the tea party. Thankfully, she seemed to be preoccupied with her appearance, as a couple of boys were coming too. This did not mean that Anna lowered her guard, she raised it a notch higher. To put herself in a better light, Aura often ridiculed her sister and then when Selda would explode, she would act like a victim. This way she was portrayed as a weak and pitiful saint whereas Selda was seen as a witch. Besides Alessia, Anna never formally met any of the other girls and boys attending. She didn't know what impression they had of Selda, but hearing about the rumours form Alessia, they would be stupid to ignore them.

'The dukes' sons are attending as well.' When she first saw the invitations, she was surprised. Derick Lucien Reed and Raphael William Azcan were written in black ink on her preparation diary. She didn't expect to meet them so early, she was especially curious about Derick and how he came to fall in love with her, but Angus didn't know Selda's entire story nor any other characters. Since he wasn't of much use Anna, planned on avoiding Derick for at least four to five years. By then he would be thirteen and probably have a fiancé. Raphael, who was currently nine years old, would tower over Anna so he probably won't take any interest in a small creature as herself.

"Your Highness, Alessia Fanglad has arrived." Said Vanessa opening the door for Anna.

'At least someone is here for me.' Anna didn't know she subconsciously came to accept Alessia.

Downstairs, Alessia together with the baroness bowed to the Princess and said their congratulations.

"This is for you." Timid and somewhat ashamed, Alessia handed Anna her a gift. Unsurprisingly, Alessia chose to gift the Princess a training uniform and a sword with a crimson handle.

"Oh!" Anna blinked forcefully a couple of times.

"Thank you, Alessia!" She never changes, does she?

Anna gave the gift away and was about to show Alessia to her seat when another figure appeared. A boy, dark green hair akin to moss entered. He was remarkably tall, maybe twice Selda's height, with a gentle gaze and airy appearance. His face, already beautiful, made Anna blush in shame.

'Derick Lucien Reed!... so we finally meet.'