Welfare and Warfare

Chapter 24

Roughly 19 Years Ago

A month had passed by since the incident. Alfreda had expected her little sister Cori to be constantly knocking on her door for attention as she usually did or at the very least apologise, but she found that Cori had not once sought her presence.

Alfreda's hands gripped into fists.

I see, she thought. She thinks she is stronger now and has no need to latch onto me constantly, and she does not apologize.

Alfreda winced as she recalled the incident, her body frozen and unable to breathe. She almost passed out if it weren't for her mother intervening. She was so hopeless, her life in the hands of her pathetic crybaby younger sister. When did she become so weak and Cori so strong?

No, Alfreda was still strong. She had also been practising in the school of mind manipulation, taught by her own father no less; it just caught her off guard. If she was prepared and knew what Cori was capable of, she could easily dispel her magic next time.

Never again would she let Cori control her. No, she would never let anyone control her again.

The training sessions continued as usual, except Cori no longer attended. Alfreda was unsure if this was a good thing or not. It was good that she was no longer threatened by Cori's accidental magic, but then there was just her and Osmond, their skill differences more stark than ever now that it was just the two of them. Without Cori, Alfreda had to spar with Osmond more frequently and then watch him shine in his battles against their mother, seeing her praise him.

That was fine, She didn't need nor want her compliments. She had her father's when he taught her new mind manipulation magic. In fact, he had said that she was far above average in her talent.

That confidence soon dwindled as she realised that now Cori would be taught by their father and she had already managed to freeze someone's body, paralysis them without any teachings, she just naturally did it like breathing, whereas Alfreda still struggled to make anyone move their hand slightly.

Would Cori take her father away? What would that leave Alfreda? They did always say middle children were forgotten, but Alfreda found it hard to think that anyone would forget someone as magnificent as her. From that day onwards, she dressed even more extravagantly than before, surely now no one would forget or dismiss her.

As she headed back from a training session with her mother and brother, Alfreda passed by the great hall, one which where parties and balls were usually held. She stopped as she heard music coming from inside. It was a soft and slow melody, yet in its simplicity, Alfreda found its beauty. She carefully opened the giant doors and peeked inside, finding that it was her father, King Casimir, playing on the ornate piano.

Since when did he ever play piano?

After finishing the piece with a sombre chord, King Casimir turned and said, "hello, Alfreda. How was your training?"

Alfreda approached the piano, wondering why she had never noticed how splendid the instrument was, the silver legs and the inscriptions, imagining how old it must be. "I did not know you played, Your Majesty."

"It has been quite a number of years since I have played," King Casimir sighed. "And I do not have much time outside of my royal duties. But I just saw this instrument and was saddened to find that it is barely played." His gloved hands caressed the keys. "It is quite old and when I play, I feel its history lingering on the notes."

"Is that spell you can do!" Alfreda touched the piano, feeling nothing. "Can you see the memory of objects?"

Casimir laughed. "I meant it metaphorically, Alfi. But there is more research into that sort of magic. One day perhaps we will be able to see who played this piano in the past." He looked to Alfreda. "Perhaps you could be the one to find it out?"