The little girl looked at her father as the man photographed the playground.... "Dad, why do you always carry your camera with you?"
The man seemed surprised by the question. "Because..." He interrupted himself. He thought about it. The little girl waited patiently for his answer while her curious eyes fixed on the man. Those eyes did not help him at all to understand how he might express himself. A few seconds passed, what seemed like hours for the father. He looked up straight at himself. In front of him he saw a lady enjoying the day while playing with her dog. Then. Some children trying to chase away pigeons, and the latter flew up in fright, they flew to the other side of the park. Finally he continued to speak.
"I don't know how to put it into words." Admitted the man.
"...It's like looking at the world differently through the viewfinder. With more detail. With more attention. I can really see what the world around us is like."
The little girl looked intently at her father. She could see a sparkle in the man's eyes. A light that shined brighter than the stars themselves in the night sky.
"I don't understand." Admitted the little girl.
The man lowered his gaze to his daughter "You will understand when the time comes," said the father, understanding that it was still too early for his daughter to understand these words of his.
"Manny! Luz! It's time to go home!" yelled the woman at the park gate.
"We're coming!" replied Manny to the woman.
Manny looked toward Luz. "Let's go before your mother gets mad at us," he said in a warm, kind voice. A smile plastered on his face. Eyes that can relax anyone. Strong, but not threatening. Kind, but not naive. Charismatic, but not arrogant. This was Manuel Noceda. A man loved by many and hated by few. This was my father.
♠️♠️♠️
The first light of the sunrise woke me up, brightening my face. I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes to take away the drowsiness. I touched my cheeks and felt that they were wet. I had been crying. Maybe... maybe it was because of the dream I had had. It felt so real. It felt like I was back home. It felt like everything was back to the way it was before....
tok tok
Someone knocked on my door. Probably Kikimora. "Miss Luz. It's time to prepare for breakfast" Exactly. It was Kiki's voice. Since I became the emperor's daughter, Kiki became my babysitter. Everyone says she is annoying, and I admit she is a little. But she's not that bad... kind of.
Kiki opened the door without waiting for my response. "Princess, you don't want to be late. The emperor is waiting for her with anticipation."
I got out of bed in the meantime Kiki went to my private bathroom to prepare the bathtub. I arranged the bed and Kiki went to my closet to choose an outfit. I looked at her with a confused look. She usually leaves right after getting my tub ready to notify my father that I would be arriving shortly.
Kiki pulled out a dress. The top part is a long-sleeved white blouse, at the bottom part that is a long skirt that goes from the waist to the knees in a golden yellow color, a white belt for the skirt. Kikimora also pulled out a ribbon of the same golden yellow color as the skirt. This dress looked to me like something straight out of a Disney movie.
"This ribbon you have to put it in the collar. I will help you tie it." She informed me.
"What is the reason for such formal dresses?" I asked. Kiki did not answer me right away.
"I am not in a position to tell you certain details. I can only tell you that your majesty wanted you, princess, to dress smartly." I nodded in understanding. I asked no further questions.
I went to the bathroom after making my bed. After I undressed I was careful to get into the tub so as not to slip. Kikimora was waiting in my room in case something happened she could intervene.
I put a generous amount of what is a version of Boiling isles' shampoo on my hair and scrubbed well. I washed my hair to remove the soap and repeated this a second time. After the second shampoo, I put the conditioner on and waited a few minutes. I don't know if the conditioner in this world had to wait a few minutes as well so the conditioner could take effect. It had never occurred to me to ask.
Meanwhile, I played with the water with the conditioner still on my head. I splashed all around. Now the floor was all wet. This reminded me of when I was at home... Mom used to call me penguin because I always wet the bathroom floor.
"Hehehe" I laughed at the memory of those times Mom used to call me penguin after I took a bath.
Mom.
From a sense of happiness and nostalgia, it turned into one of sadness and melancholy.
I was distracted from my thoughts when Kiki knocked on the door and asked if everything was all right. I answered her with, "I'm fine. I'm getting out!"
I got out of the bathtub and wrapped myself in a towel. I got dressed in the dress Kiki chose. I got out of the bath. Kiki, put the ribbon around my neck.
"Now let's go. We have kept his majesty waiting long enough" As soon as the little demon said this, he started toward the dining room where Belos and Hunter were waiting.
I did not argue with her. I followed her in silence to the hall. The guards opened the door for me and I entered.
"Good morning father." I turned to the head of the table, then shifted my gaze to my left.
"Good morning Hunter," I told him with a smile. He equally smiled and said good morning to me.
I shifted my seat to Belos's left.
He remained silent. Even with his mask on I could tell he was deep in thought.
"Luz" Belos called to me, drawing my attention and Hunter's.
"Yes?"
"It's been a month since you got here" He inquires. I was surprised. I didn't think time had passed so quickly. He continued speaking.
"I asked Kiki to get you dressed in a suit, because we're going to go outside the castle together today."
My shock increased. I turned my gaze to Hunter; he didn't seem at all surprised. I noticed his clothes better now. Unlike Belos who was in his usual emperor's robes. Hunter is wearing a yellow shirt with white flower pattern, white jeans and black sneakers. It is among the few times I have not seen him in the Golden Guard's outfit.
Hunter seems to have noticed my gaze on him.
"What?" He asked me with a confused look.
"Nothing. I'm not used to not seeing you in the Golden Guard's vest." After responding to Hunter, I turned my attention back to Belos.
"So what are we doing today? Where are we going to go? Are we going to visit some specific place or are we going to eat out? Will anyone else be with us?" I began to ask questions in rapid succession. I don't know how, but Belos managed to register all my questions and began to answer them one by one, unlike Hunter who seemed stunned.
"We will go to a parade and I will officially announce you as my daughter and I was thinking of officially adopting Hunter as my son, since you 2 get along well" Hunter was surprised after hearing this revelation. He seemed to want to say something, but stopped himself. His gaze was full of emotion.
"Hunter, do you hear! We would officially be siblings," I told him with enthusiasm. That seemed to calm him down a bit... Hunter began to cry... why did I speak too soon!
I got up from my seat and walked toward Hunter, hugging him. He looked confused, but was distracted by the caress on his head given by Belos.
Hunter was so flustered. You could see it in his expression. His eyes still glazed over, his mouth still quivering from so many emotions running through his whole body, his body as stiff as a log of a tree.
"What is this...?" He asked flummoxed.
"Affection! We are showing you how important you are to us, aren't we, Father?" I turned to Belos, who nodded at my statement.
It took a few minutes to calm him down completely. I didn't let him go; I was attached to him like a leech. Belos kept stroking Hunter's head while telling him positive affirmations. Instead of calming down, Hunter was turning as red as a tomato..
tok tok
The family moment was rudely interrupted by Kikimora, who without even the emperor's permission opened the door.
"My lord I was knocking for a while, but no one answered, is everything all right?" Asked the little demon bowing before the emperor.
"Everything is fine. What do you have to say that's so urgent that you have to interrupt our meal?" You could tell from his tone that he was in a bad mood. One could see Kiki's hesitation.
"Y- You see sire... I- I was informed that the parade carriage on which you were to ride was found to have been damaged. It is presumed to a possible assassination attempt." This information seemed to worsen the emperor's mood.
"Go immediately to find the criminal who dared to make this affront. No matter how many men you will need. Bring me the head of this hooligan, that's an order!" His dark voice made the entire hall quiver. Kiki left as quickly as possible, almost running. It didn't take a genius to see that she was terrified.
I turned my attention back to Belos.
"Does this mean we're not going to the parade?" I asked. This question caught the attention of Hunter, who until now had been trembling as much as Kikimora. As soon as I realized the meaning of the cancellation of the parada, he became sad, and I as well at seeing his face full of melancholy.
"No. I will order another carriage to be ready by the time the parade starts. Don't worry. No one will ruin this day." I affirm. His voice no longer angry, but, somehow gentle, yet remaining equally stiff and authoritative.
We sat back down at the table in silence. Tension in the air. The bad mood Belos was in could clearly be seen.
When we finished breakfast, Hunter and I ran off to leave Belos alone in his thoughts. We were heading for my room to draw, but I felt a hand close my mouth with a fabric. I began to fall asleep. My vision slowly began to darken. The last thing I could hear was Hunter's voice calling my name. Then...
Silence.