Chapter 2

"W-who are you?"

Flustered as she was, Lia's eyes sparkled with a certain curiosity. As he beheld her captivated countenance, the boy's eyes also began to sparkle like glistening gems.

"Kieran. I'm Kieran Bale. I heard you're twelve years old—is that correct?"

"Yes..."

"Well, I'm fifteen this year. I'm only three years older than you, so there's no need to be shy."

Kieran approached and sat at the edge of the bed, staring intently at Lia. Betty marveled at their uncanny resemblance. Their noble emerald eyes and honey blond hair were so strikingly similar that they could've been born from the same womb. The subtle contours of their facial features, furthermore, were almost indistinguishable from one another.

Lia felt a strange, nervous tingling in her chest as Kieran continued to survey her. When he finally reached out his hand to touch her cheek, she leapt out of the bed and darted away in fear. After briefly hiding behind the sofa, she worked up the courage to peek over at him again with her large round eyes.

"Please send me back to my mother," she said timidly. "I didn't even tell her that I was coming here. She must be worried sick about me!"

"Oh, dear. Do you miss your mother?" replied Kieran. "Hmmm… Betty? Where is Lia's mother?"

The woman who had brought the soup tried to mask her concern as she approached Lia.

"That is for Her Ladyship to say. I was simply told to feed her and give her a bath," she said, stooping down to meet the child's eyes.

Consoled by Betty's kind smile, Lia momentarily forgot about her present fears.

This mysterious place was full of beautiful, kind people and pleasant-smelling things, and it thus seemed hardly suitable for someone who had never once taken a proper bath. Even to a young child, this much was quite evident. As she sat there behind the sofa, Lia bashfully began to sniff herself. The acrid odors emanating from her own body pierced her nose and assailed her senses.

Lia looked back and forth from Kieran's silky white shirt to the frayed stitches of her own rags before she tugged carefully at Betty's skirt.

"Excuse me. May I take a bath first?"

"Of course. You can always eat after you've washed up. I will heat up the soup for you later."

Lia nodded and rose to her feet when Kieran, who was still sitting at the edge of the bed and smiling, suddenly turned pale and began to cough uncontrollably.

"A-Anghar!" Kieran wheezed between violent rasps.

"Master Kieran!!!" Betty screamed.

His attendants burst into the room, the color visibly drained from their faces. They placed a clean cloth over his lips and picked him up, then proceeded to rush him out while calling for someone's assistance. Though everyone looked discernibly unsettled, the situation was handled in as calm and prompt a manner as possible.

Lia once knew someone who coughed like that—a young knight who had always given her candy whenever they saw each other. The knight had been one of her mother's customers, and after years of such uncontrollable fits of coughing, in the end he succumbed to his illness. His lustrous blue armor was eventually stained in his own blood, and upon his death her mother had held him in her arms as she cried. Lia recalled the scene vividly and was struck with instant fear.

With tears brimming in her eyes, she gripped Betty's skirt tighter and asked, "Is he going to die?"

It was an innocent but deeply upsetting question. Betty stroked Lia's hair as she shook her head and said, "No. He won't."

"Really?"

"Of course not. Shall we go take a bath now? The longer we wait, the less time you'll have to sleep."

Lia still had so many unanswered questions, but Betty would not tell her anything else.

She followed Betty obediently into the room across the hall. Inside, she found a magnificent bathtub filled with warm water, colorful bath salts, and fragrant soaps. The child had never even seen a real bathroom, let alone taken a proper bath before; so instead of expressing awe or admiration, she could only stand in front of the bathtub in awkward, silent confusion.

Betty patted her on the head and said, "You will bathe here every day from now on, so you better get used to it."

Lia remembered that adults dislike children who ask a lot of questions. Sometimes they would even strike them with a leather belt or slap them across the face.

And so she decided to keep her mouth shut as she undressed. Without the cover of her garments, she was truly all skin and bones. She folded the rags she called her clothes as neatly as she could and placed them on the floor. Then she carefully slipped her thin frame into the bathtub, and her body immediately flinched from the unfamiliar sensation of the hot water.

As the layers of grime gradually washed off, her face began to glisten. She was so dirty that her bath water had to be changed twice.

At last Betty smiled, satisfied with Lia's glowing transformation, and wiped the sweat off her forehead as she got up.

"Goodness, my back... Okay, now that you've washed up, let's get you something to eat. We still have a lot to accomplish tonight."

***

Never in her life had Lia eaten such soft bread, savory soup, and tender chicken before. The sumptuous meal tasted nothing like the brittle, stale loaves that always scratched the inside of her mouth, or the sour corn soup she usually ate just to fill her stomach.

As she walked over with Betty after dinner to reintroduce herself to Her Ladyship, Lia decided to ask if she would be allowed to go back home. She contemplated how to phrase her request as respectfully as possible.

She started to wonder how far they had walked, for her legs had already begun to hurt when they finally arrived at their destination. Betty knocked on the door.

"My lady, I have brought the child."

"You may enter."

Lia recognized the voice at once.

Behind the door was the elegant woman who had spoken with her while she was waiting for her mother. Lia held tightly onto Betty's hand as she walked into the room. She then put her hands together and bowed her head, as Betty instructed.

"Hello, my lady," Lia said quietly.

The marchioness was sitting on a lavish couch in a nightdress and a blue nightgown. Her robe partially covered her lush brown hair, and her cold blue eyes radiated an air of unmistakable sophistication. She nodded dryly at the child's greeting. Already intimidated by the steely expression on the lady's face, Lia hesitated as she took one step forward.

"You look much better now that you've had a bath, Camellia," said the marchioness.

"Thank you for the delicious meal… but I would like to see my mother now," answered Lia.

"Oh, dear…" After a brief sigh, the marchioness gestured for her to step forward.

Betty, who hadn't said a word since entering the room, took notice of the lady's unspoken command and gently pushed the child forth. She walked forward ever so slowly.

The marchioness reached out for Lia's hand and sat her down by her side. Up close, she was as beautiful as she was menacing. She made Lia whimper like a lost puppy.

"I'm sorry, Camellia, but you cannot see her anymore."

"P-pardon, ma'am?"

"Your mother committed an awful crime. You see, she stole something very precious."

Lia's eyes widened in disbelief when she heard this accusation. The corners of the marchioness's lips twitched impulsively as she stared into the child's emerald eyes.

"M-my mother isn't a thief!"

The terrified child began to tear up. The marchioness looked down at the girl's damp hair, and her eyes were suddenly filled with contempt.

"Lia, what your mother stole was very dear to me. And it's something I can never get back. Don't you think that she should be punished for it?"

"I-I will get it back for you! My mother isn't a thief. We are very, very poor, you see... Please believe me! Please!!!"

"You will? Hmmm…"

The marchioness nodded at Betty as she stroked Lia's cheek. At her signal Betty proceeded to open up a drawer, pulled out a pair of sharp scissors, and placed them on the table.

"Then it's settled. You shall serve my purpose."

Lia was spontaneously filled with terror and began to hiccup.

"Camellius Bale," said the marchioness.

That was not her name. Lia wanted to correct her and tell her that her name was Camellia, but she was lost for words.

"If you agree to live as Camellius Bale from this day forward, I promise that you and your mother will both be safe."

"B-but… my name is Camellia…"

The marchioness smiled quietly as she shook her head and said, "No. From now on, you are Camellius Bale."

Neither the conversation nor its motivations were comprehensible to a child like Lia. While she was struggling to understand what was going on, the marchioness brought the scissors to her hair.

"I think short hair will suit you."

Before she could even feel the goosebumps rising on the back of her neck, a considerable length of her tresses were already cut off. Lia heard Betty's involuntary gasp and saw that the gray carpet was littered with her golden locks. She was frozen in shock, unable to utter a word while her beautiful, long hair was chopped to bits. Soon enough, the snipping sounds of the scissors came to a halt.

"Betty."

"Yes, my lady."

"Tell someone else to clean this up, and bring Lius to his room."

The marchioness spoke in a tired voice as she put the scissors down. Lia pushed her trembling fingers through her newly short hair.

'My beautiful Camellia. Why are you so beautiful? My baby.'

Her mother's voice suddenly resonated in her ears as she remembered how her mother would brush her hair every night and hold her in her arms. Lia began sobbing as Betty approached her and picked her up. Miserable and afraid, she wrapped her arms around Betty and buried her tearful face in her neck.

Her beautiful long hair was ruined, and she was being called by a strange name. When she returned to her new room, she ran from Betty's arms to go hide by herself in a corner. She couldn't stop crying—perhaps because her beloved locks were gone, or perhaps because she might never see her mother again. The only thing she could do was cry as loudly as she could.

Betty sat in front of the weeping child and told her calmly, "Lia, your mother isn't getting punished; she's receiving treatment for her illness. Her Ladyship is not an evil person. She's just a bit angry, so you must listen to her in order to save Laura."

Lia wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and turned her face to the kind voice.

"That's my mother's name… Do you know my mother?"

"Of course I do. This is your father's manor, after all."

"... My father?"

Betty nodded and pointed at the wall. That's when Lia saw the huge portrait: an image of a man with honey blonde hair and emerald eyes, sporting a lounge suit. The likeness was so clear it almost seemed alive.

'You have the same hair and eyes as your father, Lia.'

As soon as she laid eyes on the image, she knew exactly who he was. The light from a dimly lit lamp nearby reflected off her eyes, which shined as emerald-green as those of the man in the portrait. At that moment, she came to realize exactly what had happened to her. The thing that her mother allegedly stole from the marchioness wasn't an object—it was a person. She turned her head and saw her own reflection in the window. Roughly cut hair. A scrawny body, no longer feminine.

"Camellius Bale." Lia muttered the unfamiliar name as she buried her head between her knees.