(From Blue''s Perspective)


    "Blue," she murmured slowly.


    "Why did you cry, sweetie?" I asked gently, touching her scarlet cheek with the palm of my right hand.


    She sniffed and then hugged me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and sobbed once more. Now I truly felt guilty. I should have met her. I was afraid that if I went to meet them with swollen eyes, they would question me and suspect something was wrong.


    Actually, even though they were Demetrius''s family, they sometimes suspected that Dem was crossing the line. After all, they had an idea of Dem''s personality. So, I thought that if they somehow noticed that I was crying, they would suspect that Dem had done something to make me cry. Well, it was not his fault that I cried. I cried because I had lost my child.


    Why would he have to look bad for no reason?


    My eyes were still a little puffy. However, because the puffiness was not excessive, they would improve by lunchtime.


    "I went... hic... to meet you... but no one... hic... let me," she sobbed, hugging me tightly.


    "They said that you... don''t want to meet me... hic..."


    "I would never! I always love to be with little Ava. Then why would I ever not want to meet you?" I said quickly. "Who told you this, sweetie?"


    "Grandma did," she replied, sobbing. "She said... hic... you don''t want to meet anyone right now... for some reason... I thought you hate me...


    Uncle Dem said... that you are sick..."


    "What your uncle said is true. I was sick," I said. "That''s why I could not meet you."


    "Is that... right?"


    "Of course!"


    "... But I yelled... at Uncle Dem... and got angry with him... He must think that... I am a bad...


    girl..."


    "That''s not going to happen, Ava. Your uncle and I both know what a nice girl you are," I said softly. "He''s not going to think you''re a bad girl. It''s never going to happen. If you apologize, he will surely forgive you. So, you better stop crying, sweetie.


    I havee to meet you, right? We will spend the whole day together if you want to. Stop crying, there, there..."


    I wiped her tears with my hand. Her face was puffy, but she had finally calmed down now. She looked at my other hand and her pupils dted in surprise.


    "That... A cat?"


    "Yes," I replied with a smile. "Her name is Sapphire."


    "Sapphire?"


    "Yeah..."


    "Why is she sleeping now? It''s daytime..."


    "Well, she has been sleeping a lot these days. I will take her to Doctor Bernard today."


    "Really? What happened to her?"


    "I''m not sure... However, I believe she has a fever," I exined.


    "A fever?" she mumbled. "Fevers are dangerous. One time I had a fever, I had to rest for ten days. Mother said it was a very hard time."


    "Is that so? It really must have been hard," I muttered. "That''s why I am taking her to the doctor."


    "But why are you the one taking her? The maids can take her there..."


    "Yes, they can. But there are some things that I prefer doing by myself."


    "Like important things?"


    "Yeah, important things..."


    "I know, right?" she grinned. "I like to take care of my dolls alone as well. They like it when I am the one taking care of them, so I don''t let anyone else go near them. They are my important things."


    "Oh, that''s great..."


    "Mother said Uncle Dem likes to take care of you himself as well because you are Uncle Dem''s most favorite and important person," she smiled happily. "Father said- when ites to someone''s loved one, they want to take care of them themselves."


    "Your father is right. We all love to take care of our loved ones," I said. "You know I want to take care of you too."


    "But why?"


    "Because I love you. You are my little Ava and I love you a lot," I said with a smile.


    "Really?"


    "Of course! I love you so so much!"


    "I love you too, Blue!" she eximed.


    She was grinning revealing all of her front teeth. Her teeth were very small in size like a rat''s. They were little and adorable.


    "Wow, that''s really amazing. I was wondering if little Ava truly loves me," I said.


    "Why? Isn''t my love for you open?"


    "Who knows? Or why would little Ava not have breakfast yet? I thought little Ava hates me so much that she does not want to have breakfast because she knows that I will get sad if I hear about it...," I muttered sulkily.


    "No, that''s not it... Nanny, give me the breakfast quickly. I will finish it now...," Ava said quickly.


    I smiled inwardly. My tactic worked. I did not know Ava liked me this much that she would listen to every word of mine.


    "Just like you said before, will you let me stay with you today?" Ava asked while eating her bread quickly.


    "Eat slowly. Don''t just eat the bread. Drink the milk as well... And yeah, I havee here to get you in the first ce. You cane with me to the doctor and then to the magic tower. You sure you won''t be bored?"


    "Of course not! When I am with Blur, I can never be bored!"


    She began eating more slowly after I told her. I was observing her while pondering a question in my mind.


    Why would Mother tell her that? Dem told me that he told Mother that I was sick. Then why would she lie to Ava?


    Even though I was a bit wary of Mother, I never misbehaved with her and never let her see that I was wary of her much. It was not like we were in a bad rtionship either. But now, I was worried that something was wrong.


    First of all, Dem suspected his own mother of possessing dark mage power, which she must have obtained by killing a dark mage because she had the ability to do so due to having ck eyes. I was not sure, but I could notpletely disagree either. But Dem also said that Mother never had a single bad thought about us. Then again, dark mages could control their thoughts just as we saw in Evan''s case.


    I was confused. And now everything was getting murkier. Ava tapped me on the arm, jolting me back to reality.


    "Yes?"


    "I am finished. Can I get ready now?" she asked.


    Her voice was so sweet and innocent that I felt like I was melting. Iposed myself quickly since I could not behave like that being her aunt. What would she learn?


    "Did you drink water?"


    "Yep! The whole ss!"


    "Good girl!" I said, patting her gently on the head. "Then go and get ready. I will be waiting."


    Her nanny took her to get her ready. She wore a golden dress with ck butterflies. It seemed like she chose it to match my dress. My dress had little butterflies as well though the dress was ck and the butterflies were golden while her dress was golden and the butterflies were ck.


    Her nanny tied her hair in a braid. Perhaps it was also to match my hairstyle. My ribbon was golden while her ribbon was ck. She seemed quite happy to match my attire.


    "Are you ready to go then?" I asked.


    "Yes!"


    "By the way, you look really cute and lovely," I said.


    "Thank you...," she mumbled, blushing. "You look beautiful too. Everyone calls you beautiful."


    "Everyone? But they also say that you are the loveliest."


    "They say I am the cutest!"


    "That''s right! My Ava is the most adorable and perfect girl!"


    Ava''s mother, Evelyn did not change her family name. However, because she no longer fully belonged to the Imperial family as a result of her marriage to Merrick, her daughter did not receive the title of princess. It also sparked debate when Evelyn continued to spend the majority of her time at the Querencia Imperial Pce after her marriage. But Dem shut everyone down.


    Ava held my hand and we went out together with Perita leading us. It was quite sunny outside, the perfect weather for practice. It was something the knights said. But I preferred the gloomy weather when it felt like it could start raining at any moment but never did. That time, the mood for practice would increase since it would be less hot.


    "The weather is nice, isn''t it, Your Highness?" Perita said with her usual grin.


    "Yeah, not bad..."


    "It''s too hot!" Ava groaned.


    If it was not for the magical bodywear that I was wearing inside, I would have been fried under the sun by now. And I was wearing sunscreen as well. Surprisingly, this world had sunscreen though it was made differently than my world.