"Sister... can we go play after your classes?"The voice of a little girl pulled Leslie out of her thoughts. Her violet eyes quickly turned, and she looked at a miniature version of herself. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at her younger sister. Her sister had beautiful violet hair with small curls that matched her ribbon, which—just like her eyes—were of a deep black color.She wore a small dress that hugged her whole body; of course, the dress allowed her to play perfectly without bothering her in the slightest. The girl seemed very shy in front of her older sister...

Leslie was about to speak, but she frowned...In truth, she was lost. She didn't know what had happened, but suddenly she found herself in her room. When trying to remember something, all she got was a sharp pain in her head. At the same time, her thoughts were strangely calm—just a bit confused—as she looked once more at her younger sister...

"What day is it today?" she asked, somewhat confused, while massaging her temples...

Her sister trembled a little and slowly lowered her head."Today is the academy's inauguration day..." she said faintly...

Leslie remained silent. Seeing her sister trembling made her feel strange.It seemed like her little sister was extremely afraid of her, for some reason.Sighing to herself, her hand moved unconsciously, gently caressing her sister's head."How about we play after school?" she asked with a soft smile...

Her sister's head instantly lifted, and her small black eyes sparkled like stars.She nodded enthusiastically."It's a promise!" she said with a big smile on her lips before running out of the room, releasing small giggles...

Leslie sat in one of the chairs in her room, looking around... she fell silent again."How strange," she said to herself.Something was off. Her sharp senses were giving her strange warnings, but even as she extended her perception, she couldn't find anything abnormal—or so it seemed...

The first thing she noticed was her younger sister's odd behavior.She could vaguely see in her memories that they were slowly being sucked into a dense, grayish fog.Her sister's behavior... was terrible.

Arrogant, proud, envious, rude—everything she despised was embodied in her sister.And above all, her sister always mocked her.She loved being the center of attention, enjoyed seeing Leslie being isolated and belittled.In fact, it was because of her that their parents began to stop giving Leslie attention, until they eventually stopped noticing her existence entirely.

At first, Leslie took it very badly.For any child, it would be a nightmare to see how your parents ignore you as if you don't exist.But eventually, she adapted.She simply stopped caring. It was fine.For her, it was fine.Even though she knew her sister was responsible for everything, she never came to hate her.For reasons even she didn't fully understand, she didn't hold resentment.In fact, she even loved her sister very much...

Leslie frowned...The more she tried to remember, the worse her headache became...While massaging her temples again, she walked toward the vanity.Looking at herself in the mirror, she noticed nothing strange...She looked at one of her hands.Pulling out a small knife from nowhere, she lightly cut the palm—just enough to feel pain.The pain pierced her brain, but Leslie didn't let out a single groan.Her palm filled with blood for a few seconds before the wound closed on its own.

"This isn't a dream," Leslie spoke to herself while looking at her reflection.She didn't know what else to do.The easiest way to wake from a dream is pain...Leslie frowned. For a moment, she even considered cutting herself in half, but the uncertainty of what would happen afterward made her deeply reconsider...

Recalling her sister's words...Leslie took a quick shower and put on the academy uniform...

"First day, huh..." she murmured softly...

*********

"You look beautiful, my daughter."Seraphine clasped her hands together with a lovely smile on her lips. Her golden eyes shone like the sun...

Daniela blushed in embarrassment, but she couldn't help the corners of her lips from rising. She smiled mischievously and turned around so her dear mother could admire her more closely...

"Ahem..." Seraphine blushed a little upon seeing her daughter's playful eyes. She smiled:"After all, we have good genes."She smiled and puffed her chest a little with pride...

Daniela felt very good—she felt different.Her mother seemed like another person—more human and more...She didn't know how to explain it, but she felt a unique affection she had never felt before.It was... a mother's love.The color of a mother's soul was in shades of pink and yellow—a beautiful color.Happiness, affection, love, and embarrassment.It was the first time she had seen this kind of color in her mother's soul.Normally, it was always gray and dark and very deep.Behind multiple layers, there was a color so bright it was dangerous to look at directly...Even when speaking with her, it never changed color.

But now it was different. Her mother was different...

Daniela smiled:"You're not making fun of me, are you?"She raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips, staring at her mother.

Seraphine smiled, but deep down she knew something was wrong—though she didn't know what it was.The color of the soul wasn't completely clear.It looked like an illusory river, deforming and merging at the same time.She could feel as if she were in some kind of deadly trap but unable to escape from it—and yet, it also felt like the sweetest dream of all time...

Daniela felt uncertain about it, but the happiness her mother showed and the delicate attention she gave her made her heart tremble with joy...

"I'll think about it later..." she thought to herself.For now, she just wanted to enjoy the moment.She had always wanted her mother's affection—the true love of a mother.After all, it had always been just the two of them.