Soul Nexus. Volume 1: Before Dawn

2

Knocking was heard on the door. 『 Come in. 』I responded. A woman with dark, straight hair appeared, tied in a ponytail, wearing a maid's attire, and carrying a well-washed and correctly folded garment in her hands, along with a brush on top of it.

Veronica: 『 Good morning, my lady. Did you wake up well today? 』

Lidia: 『 Yes, thank you. By the way, I've seen those two go out. 』

Veronica: 『 Ah, yes, those boys. They were asked to go to town on an errand. They'll be back in a while. 』

I sat at the dressing table while Mrs. Aarden brushed my hair with the fine fibers of the brush. I looked at my face in the mirror as if I were looking at a stranger, another girl just like me, with a serious and unmotivated look, trapped inside that reflective surface, condemned only to be able to look at the outside to which she could never aspire.

I felt pity seeing that girl and it made me sad, then I turned my gaze to the bedroom window. You could see the entire panorama of the capital: the houses, the temples, the school, the central avenue full of street stalls, everything and beyond the cultivated fields and grasslands surrounded by trees on the roads to the south, where the people and coaches moved from one side to the other.

The silence was a little uncomfortable, but it hardly impressed a girl immersed in her thoughts and a servant as patient and tolerant in enduring that kind of situation as Mrs. Aarden was.

Shortly before I was born, she had already started working at the castle, being the subordinate of the kings' personal servant, and was given the task of being the princess's caretaker. Practically, she was the one who took care of me when I was a baby, which was difficult since she also had to care for her own children. A young single mother who had to take care of three children of the same age at the same time and do the cleaning chores in the palace all at once.

However, the high society close to the kings was very critical of this decision of having allowed the princess to be raised by a woman with two lower-class children, which they considered a total aberration that could stain the reputation of the kingdom and the future of the royal family.

However, instead of distancing myself from them, I ended up getting even closer, even though we grew apart. I never wanted to be separated from them; I liked following them wherever they went, in the castle, the corridors, the patios, the large garden, the stables, and even in the servants' quarters where they lived; I was always following behind. This is how I learned about their environment, about the place where they grew up along with other children of different ages, children of castle employees, who played hide and seek, tag, jacks, and marbles, all in an earthy landscape full of run-down houses, located as far away as possible from the palace and separated by a huge internal wall, identical to the large perimeter walls of the castle.

Following them and entering this area led to a stricter education being imposed on me to prevent me from continuing to approach them. As we grew older, my lessons became harder and harder, and I had little free time to spare; it was almost impossible for me to spend time with them; I didn't even have time to clear my mind a little.

Luckily, Mrs. Aarden was still the link for us to meet. During her first years as an employee, she would bring her children with her to help her with tasks in the palace so that they would begin to get used to the way of working around the castle and prepare them to know how to make a living.

As the years passed, Mrs. Aarden became the personal servant of the royal family, becoming the head of the palace maids, developing a mature and serene attitude that she used to lead her group of workers with leadership, earning the admiration of all and the respect of the employees who resided within the castle; her children became the caretakers of the stable from a very young age, sending them to care for the castle's horses. As for me, nothing changed.

I was still the princess secluded in the castle of Haiza, who never coexisted with her parents, condemned to a life of luxury and wealth, locked within these walls that confine me to a monotonous life. I have never walked the streets of the town alone, not even once, except for the times when I was escorted by soldiers and that other time when I got help.

I spent my entire life receiving visits from politicians and bourgeois from the kingdom and other nations who introduced me to their descendants, believing that we could get along well among children belonging to high society, trying to gain my friendship and especially that of my parents. Seen as a simple doll, coveted by all those who look to me for the opportunity to obtain a better position in nobility.

I wished more than anything to be able to get out, to live my own life, free of so much decorum, to walk through the streets of the capital, visit the market, explore the town or go beyond it, dare to surpass the limits of the kingdom and wander among the nature that surrounds the paths that would take me to other lands, far from here, from this confinement.

Then I thought about the two of them; if they would be the ones who would follow me in my dream of being free this time. If they would support me in making it come true. I wondered what they were doing at that moment.

Veronica: 『 My lady, could it be that ... you are worried about Shun and Max? 』

Lidia: 『 H-huh? 』

Veronica: 『 Don't worry about them. They may still be clumsy, but nothing will happen to them as long as they are together. 』

Lidia: 『 N-No, I wasn't thinking about them. I was just looking at the scenery. 』

The way Mrs. Aarden read my thoughts was surprising; although she denied it, she knew what I was thinking. Surely my pathetic, fallen face and constant gaze towards the window gave me away.

Veronica: 『 Incidentally, my lady, are you still studying that book over there? I thought you would be ready for tonight. 』

Lidia: 『 Aaah! I didn't want to remember it. 』

Mrs. Aarden looked at the book on the dresser, an old, wrinkled grimoire that I had been studying for quite some time as part of my tutoring, which I was still reviewing for some lessons that I would put into practice as a demonstration, which made me anxious and dizzy with nervousness, although I avoided thinking about it. I just wanted to forget about it completely.

Veronica: 『 Come now, my lady, you don't have to worry. I've seen how well you do it, and I can assure you that you are marvelous. Surely, everyone will be amazed when they see what you can do. 』

Those words only increased my desire to get out, escape from the castle, walk through the lively streets of the town, and feel the fresh air while walking through that forest, far beyond my room, to be free from the pressure of this cage.

Lidia: 『 (Ah, I wish I was with those two.) 』