Land of Graces | Encanto

🕯ꕥ ║ Chapter VIII : Deal

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Alma opens her bright door located in the center of the second floor. It reveals a normal bedroom with beige painted walls and a comfortable bed with embroidered white floral covers.

"Up here." She ascends to another set of stairs within her bedroom that leads to another room above. Secélia and Bruno followed her.

As she reaches above the stairs, the (h/c)-haired woman observes the room. This time, the room was painted a deep purple, considerably deeper than Alma's dress. Unlike the room below, this one was arranged as an office, with furnishings appropriate for a position like hers.

Her amber eyes were drawn to the fulgent candle on the purple window sill. Surrounded by golden specks, the flame burned intensely.

She notices the candle has butterfly embellishments that shine brightly, even though the wax does not appear to melt in the flame. "Is this the source of your magic?"

Alma walks up to her wooden desk and settles into a comfortable chair behind it. Bruno approached to stand next to the older woman seated at her desk, who was taking a paper and a quill from it.

"Why certainly it is." Alma responds with a hum.

Secélia edged closer to the glowing candle, her amber eyes blinking as she felt another tugging feeling. She clutches the fabric of her blouse, right above where her heart is. This was the first time she had felt anything like this. And it bothers her.

What was their connection with the Madrigal Family?

She shakes her head, articulating her curious thoughts to distract herself from the strange sensation she's feeling. "This makes no sense,"

She turns to face the gray-haired woman, who begins writing with a quill dipped in black ink on a sheet of paper.

"How did your family come to be gifted with abilities?"

From what Secélia knew, the Silvestre family was a large generation of families blessed with various gifts who were born with the sole purpose of serving the people.

In their bloodline, they have already inherited the ability to be endowed with magic by their family's magical tree.

The magical tree produces a unique form of seed to construct another miraculous tree from which identical enchanted flowers blossom, leading to a new generation of a magical family. Hence, successive generations of the family lived in various locations and contributed to its community.

So far, Secélia hasn't come across any other families gifted with magical powers. And the Madrigals were the first.

Alma took a deep breath and exhaled heavily with an elegiac look as she laid the quill near the paper, pausing from writing and focused her attention on Secélia.

"Are you familiar with the recent civil war?" Her hands crept across to caress Bruno's hands as she began her story.

Secélia stiffens at the mention of the recurring war. She averts her gaze, posing innocence about the subject. "Sort of."

Alma looked at Secélia with a sullen expression, wistfully remembering her husband's cloudy features that were gradually fading in her memories.

Bruno squeezes his mother's hand, causing her to look at him. He grins ruefully at Alma, her eyes widening as she recognizes her husband's familiar visage.

Oh, Bruno. You're the only living fragment of Pedro I had left.

"Our town was burned down by cavalrymen, and on that night I gave birth to the triplets; Julieta, Pepa, and Bruno," Secélia's brows furrowed with grief, and the older woman went on.