The Little Glass Slipper

Chapter 9: Her.

The one who proposed the divorce was Mame Treina, not Sir Kyle.

They got married under arrangement of their families. At the time, Sir Kyle had already divorced once. Mame Treina had always sensed something odd about the man, although she couldn't name what it was exactly. When Charon was born, she began to see more clearly.

"Beautiful as her mother," Sir Kyle said as he held the baby in his arms, flashing a polite smile at his wife—yes, a polite smile, not a sweet one, not a warm one, and definitely not a loving one. Sir Kyle was a gentleman, a gentleman to everyone. Nobody received any recognition of being special, not even his parents, or his wife—and certainly not his daughter, either. "We shall raise her well," he said.

"Certainly," Mame Treina agreed then, exhausted. She closed her eyes and tried to contemplate what exactly it was that was off with this man whom she called her husband.

Charon had perfectly inherited the nonchalance of Sir Kyle. Father and daughter seldom, if ever, reacted to anything emotionally. There was once a mysterious incident of bloodshed that occurred, prior to no one's knowledge, one night. Nobody living could recall how or why it happened, but when Mame Treina opened the door the next morning, the first thing that caught her eye was the bloodstained ground. It even reeked of the copper smell of blood, but there were no bodies. She stood frozen at the doorway, and Sir Kyle and little Charon soon noticed. They followed her gaze.

"... ..." Neither of the two said anything, but they didn't seem as shocked or shaken as Mame Treina. They merely blinked, and resumed having breakfast.

That was the moment Mame Treina understood. And that was when she started to change. It was a change that she herself failed to observe, but one that Sir Kyle and Charon were very much conscious of, even though they responded to it with the same indifference.

Her husband and daughter's indifference towards nearly everything stirred up a feeling of fear within her. Mame Treina grew violent and intolerant. They used to have a dog, and one day, the dog scratched Mame Treina's purse.

Little Charon, then five years old, was sitting in a corner of the room with her teddy bear. Sir Kyle was reading the newspaper. In her burst of outrage, Mame Treina pointed at the canine and hissed, "Turn into a carpet." In that instant, the animal transformed into a luxurious carpet. Sir Kyle looked up from his news at the new furniture, and then at Mame Treina. "You have good taste in furniture, my dear," he said in a genuine tone, without the slightest hint of fear upon the discovery that his wife was a sorceress. Charon, on the other hand, had been watching her mother ever since she entered the common room, and the look in her eyes didn't change in the entire process. It was only when Mame Treina left the room that the little girl shifted her gaze back to the teddy bear.

It was Mame Treina who panicked. That was why, two days later, she told Sir Kyle that she wanted a divorce. "I understand," he said, and agreed promptly. Mame Treina didn't doubt his loyalty. She knew that he didn't really care, about anything. She reserved the right to raise Charon on her own, and Sir Kyle left without a trace after the divorce. She hadn't seen him since.

Around the time of Prince Dradel's ball, the witch noticed that Charon seemed to be showing signs of having emotions, and feelings. It was such a subtle hint that, had Mame Treina not been her mother, she would not have noticed. What caused this change? Was the girl in love with the prince?

And if Charon was turned into a man, would she be just like her father? Or were her feelings true, would she break down for her inability to be with the prince legitimately?

Mame Treina was anxious to find out.