Fake Princess
CHAPTER 37
“ Well, tomorrow there is a train going that way. And..”
Aunt Vania stood up as she continued to talk, but suddenly fell silent when she saw me. His gaze shifted from my feet wearing sandals to my braided hair and I wrapped it around my head. His tongue stopped between his lips, and I saw his neck move as it gulped.
“ But you want to go from here, right?”
I've prepared a speech, a long explanation I thought I'd need when I saw him. Now it's all gone, and I'm confused looking for words. So, I just nodded.
“ You're going back to town?” Nod again.
“ Today, if you can?” Nodding
“ I think you have money to pay for a train if anyone stops here?”
It seemed like it was only then that I remembered how to speak.
“ I'm sorry. They gave it to me when they left. For ‘ my services to the kingdom.’ I know I should have given it to you, but I thought..”.
I reached out and put my hand on my shoulder.
“ I thought maybe I'd need it .”
Aunt Vania just jerked her head, but I don't know if it was a nod or not.
“ Is understandable. & it's yours. After all, I did not spend my life replacing the position of someone who could be killed at any time.”
I was stunned when I heard her words, even though I knew it was true. “ But you accepted me at your house.”
Aunt Vania put her skinny shoulders.
My aunt sat on the tree stump where Devan put the map yesterday.
“ My attitude towards you is not warm, Amelia. I'm not entertaining you, or making your adaptation easier, or even liking your friends.”
“ He is not my friend,” I quickly said, my cheeks blushing.
Aunt Vania blinked when she heard it, almost looking like she wanted to ask it, but she just spoke,
“ I'm sorry if I made your situation more difficult. I can only say that I did not expect your arrival. I'm used to my life, and I don't like distractions. Even so, I have now treated you unfairly twice. I didn't welcome you, even when I found out you were just going through a rough patch, and I let you find your magic by accident, instead of warning of the possibility. I'm sorry for all that.”
I don't know what to say. The distance between us was too far, so far away that I felt I would never be able to reach out to touch her. However, she was my only living relative, and I felt that there was a dark well located deep within me, empty, when it was supposed to be full. If only things were different, if only we were different.
“ Thank you,” I finally said. “ I also apologize, for not being able to adjust here.”
Suddenly Aunt Vania snorted. “ Don't be silly. Your place is not here. Not since then either. They ruin your chances of living a normal life. It wasn't your fault. There's nothing you can do.”
Aunt Vania sighed, like someone lying on a bed for the first time in weeks.
“ You better stay at Vivaskari. But what are you going to do there?”
I shook my head. “ I don't know. I think I'm gonna go to the witch's college and figure out what to do to get accepted there. If they won't accept me, well.”.
The fear that I had been trying to ignore clutched my throat for a moment I could not speak.
“ I'll find a way. I know the city; there I feel like I am at home.”
Seriate