Dishonesty

Chapter 10- Oriana's cell

Her room looked exactly the same as she left it. Maybe, cleaner and orderly. She was never a neat child to begin with, but even now Oriana was scared to touch any of the pristine furniture or to sit on the bed and stain the expensive fabric with the dirt and dust in her clothes and hands. One old lady from the staff came into her bedroom, excusing herself, to warn the young Calmreich that her bath was ready for her. The lady was new, she didn't work with the Calmreich when Oriana was still living here, but some familiar faces were delighted to have Dulce Calmreich back. Dulce Calmreich. A name Oriana was not used to anymore. It felt like it didn't belong to her. On the corridor, on her way to her old room, a friendly servant would call for her birth name and it took her a second to acknowledge it was her they were speaking to. In her private bathroom, she was asked to leave the dirty clothes in the basket as usual, they would collect her clothes and wash them the following day. Oriana spent her time in the bath refocusing her mind, processing what had happened. She was repeating Asta's question in her mind.

How did a training session turn into a family reunion, indeed. So much for taking a stand against my fears.

Oriana retraced her steps that day. She should've never listened to Mereoleona's inspiring advice. No, before that. She should have ran as fast as she could before anyone had noticed. Nope, even before that. Zora was right, none of them should've left their bed that morning. Once they did, everything went wrong. Remembering then the tone in Zora's voice, Oriana held her knees closer to her chest. It wasn't disdain, he could never have the same despise for Oriana as he had for the other Royals, it was utter disappointment. It was worse. She had lied to him. Oriana enlaced her fingers around her legs and rested her forehead on her knees. She had done it again. By now, Zora was somewhere furious with her. This time, she wasn't sure if she could bring him back, or if there was a way to reignite the bond they shared.

Coming back into her room, wrapped in silk robe and towels, Oriana found a long dark red dress. The skirt seemed a little too narrow for Oriana's taste and there were little bows on the elbows. She fought the urge to retrieve her dirty outfit and her Black Bulls robe. Shifting her weight from one leg to the other, she stared at the dress with a grimace. The dress accentuated her chest and fell to her feet. It was uncomfortable, she would never be able to fight wearing something like this.

When she was younger, she would always get away from these silly dresses and get herself some comfortable clothes she could run and practice her magic while still looking the part, as her maid used to say. Ever since she remembered, Oriana wanted to be a Magic Knight. Their glory and victorious demeanor were contagious and she craved it like most children her age at the time. She would drag Finesse in the streets of the Capital and play with any group of kids that were around. It was fun until her sister became too sick to do any physical activities. It was around the same time the two sisters were officially betrothed to the Vaude brothers and, consequently, when her father ran out of patience for her foolish dreams. As a member of the Calmreich family and as a possible heir to the Clover Throne, Dulce Calmreich could never become a Magic Knight. However, Oriana was never one to pretend and the fire inside her would never cease. She was never able to remember her manners, to behave and stand with a pretentious grin and cocky look in her eyes. To sit quietly and learn how to paint or how to play an instrument. She liked to read, though, but even the sappy novels she was given were unsatisfying.

There was a soft knock on her door. Oriana was still observing her figure in the mirror, but had no trouble in telling her sister to come in. Finesse herself was wearing her usual pink gown and a flaring cape, her locks of hair neatly combed, her perfect posture. Finesse belonged in this Castle, but her kind eyes and soft spoken voice made her different from other Royals. That's probably why Finesse was always the person Oriana looked for to do pretty much anything.