Amoriana tucked me in, but as comfy as I was, I was still stuck on her expression. It left me... confused. She seemed happy, but she also seemed so sad. Why was she sad? Immediately I imagined several scenarios, the Demon perhaps had something of hers and she couldn't get away from them. Maybe she was just sad I wasn't her daughter. Maybe it was something else, but I wasn't sure...

  What I did know is that I never wanted to see that expression on her face again, and when she left me in the room, I shut my eyes. Moments later, I was dreaming again.

  My room had... changed over the weeks. Details became dim, colors faded and turned to grey, and I was left feeling like I had began to lose more than just my sanity. My memories with which Fane used to be able to play for me like a movie were now absent. I could only work on them myself, and even then I would struggle to find any memories I could vividly play back besides a few. I looked at the shelf and browsed through it, swiping my hand across it as I tried to find vivid memories to play back for comfort.

  Graduation. Twenty-Fifth Birthday. Dad's Rehab. End of War Announcement... Mythic Champion Tier Achievement. And potentially the worst one out of all of them: The unnamed final memory, splattered in blood.

  I remembered it so vividly I didn't even have to try to recall it. The scent of gunpowder, the primitive yet still widely used firearms that they used. The confidence I felt at the idea of outsmarting Pinnacle. The pride. The pain. The terror. I took a shuddered breath as I swiped to the next memories.

  Amoriana's Name. Amoriana's Praise. Amoriana's Comfort. I swiped again and again and I found that dozens of memories were able to be perfectly recalled. And all of them involved Amoriana. It was strange how a planet of backwater troglodytes managed to birth something as perfect as her. She kept everything in my room tidy. She gave me space when I needed it, and she was teaching me the language in a voice I liked.

  "Ahh..." I put my head against the edge of the shelf. After a few moments, I found I was hugging myself as I moved away from it and towards the bed. What kind of blanket did I used to have again? It was strange how I was only now forgetting these details despite not seeing this room in years before. Without Fane, everything began to fade, and only incredibly important events remained. But some of those were disappearing too. What...

  What did Mom and Dad look like? I tried so hard to recall their faces, their voices. What did they sound like? What was the color of their eyes? I put my hands to my face and crumbled into a ball on my bed. I couldn't find comfort in a sensation I couldn't remember, and so it felt empty.

  Biting my lip, I held back tears before shuddering out another sigh.

  "One... twothreefour...five.....six... seven...eightnine... ten" And so I began counting.

  Four years had passed. And every day had been a struggle of survival. From the weeks where I would sometimes not see Amoriana to the days when I would spend locked in a room with the Demon.

  I had met my supposed father as well, on my third birthday. He was a tall man, with short brown hair put in a small tail at the back. His eyes were a clear blue, and that was the day I understood I couldn't cry. Not for any spectacular reason like if I did I would die, but that i simply couldn't. My body was entirely incapable of it, and while I had thoughts that was the case, it was a confirmed fact now. I had been pulled out of Amorina's arms and wept in my mind, but no tears had flowed.

  Additionally, today was supposed to be another gift for me, meeting my elder sister. I hadn't even known I had one, and I chalked it up to strange family dynamics or traditions to not let siblings meet early. At least I wasn't locked into one room. When I began walking and reading on my own at one year old, Amoriana was elated. She had told me how the Demon was so 'proud' of my progress, but that she was sorry that I wouldn't be able to see her lately, as she had grown sick, as she had been doing so often these last couple years.

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  Good. If I never saw her again it would be too soon. She brought my into this world, and perhaps orchestrated Azalea Clovers—MY past self's—death. Yes, these were delusions that were highly unlikely, but so was the existence of the demon itself, and yet it existed.

  "My Lady, are you up?" I turned towards my door as I sat up in bed. "Amoriana, enter." I replied. Her voice was so light and happy today. Something good must have happened. "Why are you so excited this early in the day?" I asked, already knowing, but she just laughed it off.

  "My lady, you're going to meet your elder sister today, and upon hearing this, The Miss has decided to oversee it all." Despite how I was able to hide my fear over the years, I still felt my blood run cold whenever "Mother" was mentioned.

  "Right..." I said absentmindedly, looking out the window before slowly getting out of bed. Amoriana immediately went to my closet and grabbed a set of clothes and matching shoes for me to wear as she began to dress me. Today was a red dress and doll-like shoes. They almost looked like pre-modern plastics. The ones that old humans used in the... twenty-first century I believe? It was crude, nevertheless. "She's five, right? What is she like? I have heard nothing of her until recently."

  Amoriana remained silent as she finished dressing me, putting bows in my white hair as I asked. She put on a contemplative face, seemingly unsure of exactly how to reply to me. Whenever she was like this I knew it wouldn't be good news.

  "I suppose I should say she's... a rather energetic and strong girl. Much like your father, Earl Silas, was in his youth, if rumours are to be believed." I shut my eyes and took a slow breath, only to end up yawning. "I know you wake up early every day my lady, but you should start waking up at a normal time. It's not healthy for you to keep this up. You'll stunt your growth."

  It wouldn't. I had grown at a normal rate to a normal human, so it wasn't a surprise to me. But, then again, perhaps these fakes grew at a different rate? Were they faster than normal? I had asked her before, but she never gave me a straight answer, always laughs and "yes, yes My Lady" replies.

  With all the time I spent around the other servants over the years, walking the halls to go to and from places to get some form of stamina built up, I found that everyone avoided my eyes. I asked Amoriana about this as she went to close my wardrobe, to which she paused.

  "No, it's not." She sighed with an aggravated face, another expression I found attractive. "Pardon me for saying this, My Lady, but many of the people in southern Veridonia are highly..." Amoriana chewed on her words for a moment. "are often under the belief of superstitious events. When you didn't cry upon your birth, people believe it a bad sign, the same as having two girls born after the other." I see, so it's just me then.

  walking over to Amoriana as she finished with my wardrobe, I grabbed her by the hem of her outfit. I had a bad feeling about today.

  Surprisingly, despite how observant Amoriana was with everything else, she never seemed to understand just how much I hated seeing that blasted devil, and that the fear that coursed through me was not because I feared admonishment. It was her only flaw.

  Nevertheless, She soon led me out of my room into the hallway, smelling of incense and aged woods. The arched roof was the indicator that we were on the second floor of the manor. Surprisingly, during my four years, I hadn't once seen my supposed sibling as I wandered the halls. It was doubtful that they simply were in their room the entire time, so was it perhaps that they arrived in the middle of the night?

  "Mama!" There was a shrill voice up ahead, behind a door I had never gone through on the opposite wing from where I slept. "Mama, why do you look so sick?" I realized that not only was my 'sister' there, but no doubt the devil was as well.

  Mentally clicking my tongue, I held onto Amoriana's skirt even tighter as we neared, only for one of the maids to see Amoriana, then me, proceed to flinch as we lock eyes before slowly opening the door with a knock. "My Lady, miss Lorena is here with Amoriana." I heard a gasp from inside, before we were beckoned inside.

  I could almost see the danger wafting out of the door. If I made a mistake, I was sure I would die.