When I came to, I was in the middle of some mansion. Examining my surroundings further, I slowly began to recognize the place.
“L-Lady Claire! Please, forgive me!”
“No! Maids who can’t wear their clothes properly must be punished!”
I walked in the direction of some voices I heard and saw a somehow familiar-looking young girl chastising a maid with a whip. The young girl had bright-blonde hair and willful eyes. She was likely Claire, which made this place the François mansion. But why was Claire so young?
As I wondered that to myself, the punishment Claire delivered grew more intense. With an innocent, childlike smile on her face, she whipped the maid over and over.
“Please, forgive her, Lady Claire! She’s only just started working here! Please overlook her inexperience!” an older maid said.
“No! My maids need to be perfect. Be thankful I’m taking it upon me to educate you myself. Oh ho ho ho!”
A whip only needs a small amount of force to crack; even in the hands of a child, it still caused pain. A number of long, narrow welts had formed on the maid’s skin. I felt pity for her as she cowered in tears.
This was Claire’s past that I was seeing. This was likely around the point in time when she was particularly spoiled, some time before she lost her mother, Melia.
The surroundings seemed beautified, just a bit, tipping me off to the fact that this wasn’t your typical stroll down memory lane. The colors were more vivid and showy, as though matching the mood of this more selfish version of Claire.
“Miss Claire,” I tried calling to her, but my voice didn’t reach her or her maids. It seemed I was only a bystander in this world.
A woman resembling Claire entered the room and immediately raised her voice. That had to be Melia. “Claire! Are you bullying the maids again?”
“Mother… The maid wasn’t wearing her uniform correctly, so I had to scold her…” Claire’s earlier willfulness vanished as she turned meek.
“I don’t want to hear excuses. I’ve told you many times that we aristocrats must always treat commoners with respect. Now apologize.”
“B-but…”
“Apologize.”
“Ngh… I’m sorry,” Claire said timidly. As expected, she couldn’t defy her mother.
The young maid, now free to go, was helped out of the room by the older one.
As they left, a more youthful Dole walked in. “Melia, don’t you think you’re being a tad harsh on Claire?”
“Father!” Claire ran up and hugged him.
“Somebody needs to be,” Melia said. “She’s grown willful because of all your doting. If she’s to become a refined young lady, she needs—”
“Now, now, let’s leave things at that,” Dole said. “Some strawberries just arrived, Claire. Would you like some?”
“Yes, please!”
“Listen to me, dear! And you, too, Claire! Goodness… Whatever am I to do with you two?”
This was the world of a Claire who still knew nothing but happiness, from a time when she still believed the world revolved around her.
But this happiness would soon come to an end.
The scenery around me changed. My surroundings lost color and became monochrome, and I was no longer at the François mansion but what looked to be a cemetery.
“Melia François, thou art now by our Lord’s side.” A man who looked to be a priest was saying a final prayer.
The many people gathered were all wearing black. Claire was in a black dress, staring at the casket in a daze. Her eyes no longer shone with their earlier jubilance.
“Poor thing… The young lady is still only four.”
“I hear it wasn’t an accident but the workings of Marquess Achard—”
“Shush! That may be so, but it’s not something that should be said in the open.”
The nobles in attendance gossiped, their voices seeming to not reach Claire’s ears.
It had happened on Claire’s fourth birthday. A rival noble family had invited Melia and Dole out the day they were supposed to celebrate their daughter’s birthday, and the pair were met with an accident on the way home. The suspicious circumstances led to rumors that it was all premeditated by the rival noble family. That same day, Claire had a quarrel with her parents, as she was mad they weren’t staying to celebrate her birthday. Now she was left unable to make amends with Melia forever more.
“Lady Claire…” By Claire’s side was a young Lene. She held Claire’s hand and cast a worried gaze her way as though she were her older sister.
“Claire, it’s time to say goodbye to your mother,” Dole said.
Claire stood stock-still, without expression.
After a short, pained pause, Dole looked away from Claire and to the members of the clergy. He gave them a nod, signaling them to continue. They did so, lowering Melia’s casket and beginning to shovel dirt on top.
“No… Nooo!” After watching in a daze for a few moments, Claire suddenly sprung forward. “Don’t put dirt on Mother! Don’t make Mother dirty!”
“Claire…” Dole said.
“Mother’s just sleeping! She’ll wake up soon… She has to, because, because…” Claire’s body trembled as she yelled, “I still haven’t apologized to her!”
The scenery around me changed again. Things were still monochrome, but this time, I was in a mansion that I didn’t recognize. Claire was in the room alone, hugging her knees. She looked like a high-quality doll, pretty and lifeless.
There was a knock at the door.
Claire didn’t respond.
Another knock.
Claire still didn’t respond.
“Hey, you are in here.” A young boy entered the room, or so I thought at first. When I looked closer, I realized it was actually a tomboyish young girl—Manaria, in her youth.
Claire gave her an annoyed look before turning her gaze back down.
“You feel like moping, I get it. Anyone would after what happened. But you can’t stay like that, Claire. Madam Melia won’t be able to rest in peace if you don’t change.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. She’s watching over you from heaven right now. She’s probably heartbroken, seeing you brood like this.”
“But…I said something mean to Mother…” Claire’s face contorted with grief as tears streamed down her cheeks.
Manaria looked shaken for a moment, but she quickly smiled. “No one thinks this is your fault, my little angel. Not even your mother in heaven.”
“Really?”
“Definitely. I guarantee it.”
Claire looked up and, for the first time, acknowledged the young girl before her, her bearing so princely.
“You finally look my way, my frail maiden. I swear here and now that I will remain faithful to thee.”
“That’s from Poesie Amour…” Claire said.
“You’re very well read. Who did you learn it from?”
“Mother…”
“I see. Then she still lives on inside you.”
Claire’s eyes went wide with surprise, and the surroundings regained some of their color. It seemed this world was indeed a reflection of Claire’s mind.
“Stand now, Claire. I’ll stay by your side. I’ll protect you from whatever sadness comes your way.”
Blushing, Claire nodded. I felt a bit jealous, but I also understood there was no knowing if Claire would ever have recovered if it weren’t for Manaria at this moment. I better thank her the next chance I get.
“What’s your name?” Claire asked.
“Heh heh, I’ll tell you when next we meet. Until then, can you become a smiling little princess for me?”
“Yes!” Claire wiped away her tears and broke into a brilliant smile.
From there, Claire’s world gradually began to regain color with each scene change. She returned to the François mansion and acted on her every childish, selfish desire. She enrolled at the Royal Academy elementary school, gained an entourage, and did those nostalgic pretend-villainess things. She did whatever she pleased from youth to her junior-high years.
But her world never fully regained its prior vibrancy. Even as she indulged in her selfish whims, there were brief moments when she seemed to grow bored. Even when surrounded by friends, I saw glimpses of sadness. It broke my heart to watch, unable to intervene.
Eventually, her first day of high school came. But from the moment we were originally supposed to meet, instead, a fissure formed. The fissure began as a small crack, but it soon spread across the entirety of her world.
I watched it all, helpless.