"Gah-!"
The servants all stopped their tracks as a small figure ran past all of them.
"Sir Ainsley, you can't enter!"
Said one of the maids.
"Sister!"
He burst through the door with a book in his hand.
Ainaira turns to see an excited little boy infront of her.
Not long after Ainsley found out about Ainaira's magic, he kept trying to talk to her about it, and Ainaira eventually gave in when he asked her:
====
"C-can I call you 'sister'?"
He wanted to ask that question ever since that day in the garden.
She didn't have much reaction, instead, she just shook her head in defeat.
"Do whatever. I don't care."
====
Back to the present time.
Ainsley ran up and hugged her. He looks up to her and says:
"Teach me today too!"
She ruffled his hair
"No, I have other plans."
"How about tomorrow?"
"No, I have plans that day."
"Then-!"
"I'll be busy for a while so I can't." She rejected him.
"Oh…" He looked like an abandoned puppy. His head was low and his eyes were tearing up a bit.
"After I successfully negotiate with father, I'll teach you more." She crouched down to his level. While she didn't smile nor showed warmth, her voice was genuine.
This strange development made Ainaira uneasy, but Ainsley was the only person that was different from the rest.
In order for her to not lose her mind, thinking everyone is just a puppet that is being controlled or she's actually in a story but somehow retained her memories because of some kind of error in the system, she kept Ainsley close to her.
He was new to her, therefore it didn't make her life repetitive. More importantly, he made her fear for the future subside. If things seemed different from this life, then it would mean she wouldn't have to die.
That was her reasoning. Though part of her felt a tinge of guilt using a child for her survival, it wasn't like she wasn't doing it to control people.
But that was just her being in denial. She was afraid to form relationships and bonds. She knows the future, and she knows she'll be devastated when the Duke adopts Ainsley.
Is she fearful of death? Yes, she's afraid, but she can survive without Ainsley in the picture.
So she made up her mind that she was only using Ainsley to have a chance at survival, when in reality she wants to spoil and spend time with her little brother.
She always wanted that, but those cruel voices never once let the kind and sweet little girl that she used to be, grow up to do what she wants.
Ainsley felt reassured at her words
"It's a promise!" He gleams.
The two siblings were walking down the hallway. "Sister, can I ask what you are going to talk about with father?"
"My future."
They were at the door of the Marquess office.
"I'm here to talk to the Marquess." She said to the butler.
He didn't reply and only entered the room. Not long after, he returned.
"The Marquess allows you to see him."
As he gestured her inside.
"Good luck sister!" Ainsley waved off Ainaira until the door was closed.
-
"I heard you wanted to talk?"
The Marquess was standing up while looking down at the glass window
"Yes, I'll make it quick. I want to annul my engagement with the Crown Prince"
The Marquess' face turned red from anger, and his veins looked to almost pop.
If Ainara's looks could stab daggers, then the Marquess' would be like being shot by a firing squad.
"What?!"
"I think you heard me…I want-"
"DON'T BE RIDICULOUS!" He slammed his hands on the table
"You will be the future empress and you want to let go of the opportunity!? And I thought you loved the Crown Prince!"
"I never wanted this marriage from the start…I only pretended to be affectionate with him because of our circumstances"
She frowned.
The Crown Prince said those exact words to her in her first timeline. Its true she did not like the marriage but she grown to love the Crown Prince.
Those words cut deep in her heart that can never be restored.
She opened her eyes after remembering that memory. She cannot fault the prince, she was a cruel woman. Who would love that?
"I am not here without an exchange"
"What?"
"Annul my marriage and I'll bring the family glory better than just the title of an empress."
He scoffs
"You? Someone who's only been throwing tantrums and spending money for 16 years?"
"Father, you have an outstanding son to be the future sword of the empire, don't you want a daughter to be the future supreme witch?" For the first time in a long time, her eyes were filled with determination and life.
"Supreme Witch?" He looked at her as if he heard a sick joke.
There's a difference between Sorcerers and Witches.
Sorcerers gather their magic and mana from external forces . Whatever mana capacity they are born with, that's their limit even if they're talented. They cannot absorb more mana than what their body cannot handle
However, Witches are different.
While Sorcerers cannot manipulate elements if the element they want to control is not present, Witches can use these elements regardless, as long as they envision it. That's what it means to use internal forces. That's what being a witch means. Creating mana out of pure imagination.
However not a lot of witches have the talent to go beyond the level of a Tier B Sorcerer. Therefore the seat of the Supreme Witch is vacant for 500 years.
"Even if you are a witch, do you think you can change anything?" His eyes were looking down on her.
"You be the judge."
Her bright red eyes turned into azure blue.
Then the Marquess fell down to his knees.
"Li-Lillian?"
"..."
The Marquess was petrified upon the sight of a ghostly figure of a woman. She had black hair and blue eyes.
"It's not my real mother… but I'm sure you know how hard it is for Witches to create an illusion this accurate?"
"When…"
His voice quiver
"Since when were you able to do this…?"
She stared in sorrow at the woman. She's realistic yet so uncanny.
====
When she was a child, her mother, the late Marchioness Lillian, died. On the night of her mother's funeral. She missed her so dearly, crying in her bed.
She wished to see her mother again. That was when a voice spoke to her.
{Little Witch, little nightmare, you want to see her again? I'll help you.}
Amidst her crying and shock at the voice, her eyes swelled more as the mist that appeared in her room started to look like the mother she remembers.
It was the day those voices appeared and the last day of her freedom.
====