Fake Princess
CHAPTER 19
Aunt Vania stayed cool, content to spend time alone and it made me suffer. For the first few days, I hoped, Aunt Vania would get used to my presence, and start to like me.
I know I'm not Devan, who wherever he is is always liked by those around him, but I think maybe Aunt Varil will finally love me, having gotten used to my presence in his life. However, one week passed, then another week, and the next week nothing changed.
Aunt Vania is not cruel, but neither is she nice. Every now and then, as we sat in the main room at night, I caught him looking at me with a frowning expression, as if I were something placed at his door and he wished he could get rid of it.
I think that's what I am, I feel useless to him, my skills in dipping, cooking, and cleaning are at least reliable. Even so, I knew I was polite, reserved, and basically cost nothing. So, in the meantime, I keep hoping that one day Aunt Vania will like me.
However, when I asked about my parents, I understood that my Aunt's dislike was because I was finding out about them. Her dislike was more than just my bad cooking or the frequent breaking of dishes while washing them. So for a while I stopped asking about my two parents while waiting for the right time.
We were inside the house, hanging plants from the rafters of the storage shed, when reaching out to hang the sweet gale, I saw a carving on the wooden rafters; a picture of a cat in a curled up position like a ball, his tail was curled forward of his body.
“ What Aunt Vania carved it?” I asked while pointing at the picture.
Aunt Vania turned her back on me, but I could see her body suddenly stiffened. He could not answer, only raising his hand to compose a few rolls of blue wool thread on the shelf.
“ Your father carved it,” Aunt Vania answered tightly.
“ This used to be our room, when we were kids. Our parents slept in the other room.”
I couldn't help but gasp when I heard his words. Because Aunt Vania hasn't talked about my father at all, since my arrival.
Aunt Vania never told me about their childhood, or any explanation for why she gave me up. And I never, until now, dared to ask again about it.
Again, I saw Aunt Vania's shoulder turn stiff, but she didn't turn around.
“ Dia. Seriously. He had known he wanted to be a weaver since he was six years old. He always sees the good side of everyone.” His voice turned grim.
“ That's why I was worried when he went to study at Vivaskari. He's too trusting, & I'm afraid he'll get hurt by it.”
My mouth feels dry. There was something inside me that didn't want to ask the next question, but I couldn't help myself.
“ And my mom? Does Aunt Vania know her?”
This time, Aunt Vania turned around. He spun so fast that I had to prevent my legs from backing off. His face was tense, his eyes were squinting.
“ Your mother destroyed your father.”
“ What?” In my mind, I heard the words of the king. He never mentioned his wife.
Aunt Vania smiled, but her expression was grim, laden with hope & old wounds.
“ She met your mother in town. Your mother just stopped by, and accidentally went to your father's shop. Name's Tania. They got married in the city & afterwards brought him a visit here.”