CHAPTER 76: BEFORE THE CIRCUS

"Valestria?" Leila frowns. "I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never met anyone from there. And you say they’re a monarchy?"

"Yes." Miranda nods. "They’re very proud of their ancestry. It goes way back — some say two thousand years. They have this ancestral tree woven into a tapestry. Every new Voss gets added. The thing is said to be taller than ten meters."

"What is the King’s aunt doing in Arvion?" Leila asks.

"I don’t know. Linus said she likes to travel and spends one or two months in one place."

"Such a short time, but she can be a member of that club? She must be very influential," Theo comments.

"Well, she’s a regular donor to Arvion and the rumoured cougar for Chief Stille," Miranda answers.

"But no one really knows why she’s here, in Concordia. The last time she was here was over a year ago, remember, Mom?" Claudia chimes in.

"Ah yes, you’re right! She met your father at the theatre in Solarys, and she crunched her nose like she smelled something horrible." Miranda suddenly remembers another detail she doesn’t like about the Baroness.

"So, when is this luncheon?" Theo asks.

"Ah! Thea dear, you’re right — we almost forgot. It’s today. In..." Miranda checks her watch. "...a little less than two hours."

"Wow. Such a short notice. Isn’t it rude to invite someone this soon? I mean, it’s not like they’re the police and we’re people of interest," Theo says.

"It’s on purpose. They don’t give you time to prepare so they can catch you red-handed. Their excuse is, if they give you time, they ’won’t see the real you,’ which is bullshit to me. It’s common courtesy to give people a few days. What if the invitee already had other plans?"

It’s obvious Miranda doesn’t like these ladies.

"But don’t worry. We’re here. We’re not going to let those women insult you. First, let’s dress both of you up. We won’t give them a chance to criticize you."

-------------------------------

About an hour later, Miranda and Claudia are backing away, admiring their hard work.

Both Leila and Theo look elegant. Leila has that expensive, refined look yet still warm and approachable.

Theo, on the other hand, looks elegant in a younger, fresher way.

Claudia clasps both hands. "I still can’t believe you cut your hair, Thea. Such a shame... but now I’m glad you did. This hairstyle makes you look even younger and more innocent."

Theo’s hair is clipped on one side, and with the way Claudia brushed it, it looks like white silk: shiny, smooth, and almost unreal.

"It’ll be the subject of envy," Claudia sighs. She really envies Theo’s hair, since her own is wavy and impossible to tame.

"And what I still can’t get over is the natural color. It’s not silver, there’s no darker streak anywhere, it’s just pure snow white. I’ve never seen anyone with a natural hair color like yours." Her eyes continue to shine with jealousy and admiration.

"When she was born, we originally thought it’d turn into Arthur’s shade—silvery," Leila explains. "But as she grew older, it stayed white."

"Arthur’s is already rare. The silver hair I’ve seen is usually darker, some even have brown or black mixed in. But Arthur’s is actually silver." Claudia nods.

The three women continue talking about hair, and something clicks in Theo’s mind.

In Caelthorn, lighter hair usually indicates stronger affinity with magic. The higher the affinity, the lighter the shade.

But I’ve never seen anyone with hair this white.

Wait. If I’m not mistaken... there was one mage in the ancient era with extremely light hair. Was it white too? Or almost?

Hold on—does this mean Thea’s affinity with magic is that high? I knew hers was strong, but Archmage-level strong? No... beyond that.

Theo is shocked and masks it before anyone notices.

Was this why I could cast spells I never could before? This body is what—sixteen? Still not fully grown. What would happen in two years? Or even one?

Oh my god.

Theo gets giddy at the thought of having a body with the highest magical affinity possible.

No one refuses power. Not Theo, who had to claw his way to being an Archmage in his past life, and who’s been miserable living in a magicless world.

He remembers the dungeon. How he felt alive again.

I need to go back into a dungeon. I’ll ask Liam to take Aldriana soon.

"Okay. Now that everything is done, we need to leave. It’ll take about forty-five minutes or more from here."

"You two are coming?" Theo asks. His lips twitch a little. He feels uncomfortable with the lipstick Miranda forced on him. It feels like something bit me. Stop pouting, Theo!

"Yes. We are." Claudia answers immediately. "We’re not going to leave you two alone with those witches." She squints her eyes like she already wants to fight someone.

"Claudia," Miranda lightly admonishes her daughter. "Don’t call them witches." Then she pauses, tilts her head, and adds, "Even though most of them absolutely are. But still."

Theo snorts. Leila coughs to hide her laugh.

"But you’re not invited. Is that okay?" Leila frowns, genuinely worried.

"Hah! Please." Miranda lifts her chin with a smug smile. "No place in Arvion will turn away a Monfort, let alone twoMonfort ladies. They wouldn’t dare."

Claudia nods proudly beside her mother, arms crossed like she’s the bodyguard.

"We won’t go in with you for the luncheon," Miranda continues. "We’ll just have lunch at the same place. Somewhere nearby, where all the important people can see us. So if anything happens or someone tries to pull something, the reinforcements are on standby." She grins, clearly enjoying herself.

Miranda doesn’t have many real friends in the capital. Most of the women around her only stay close because she’s Madam Monfort. Few are genuine. So the chance to stay in Arvion next to Leila, someone she actually trusts, is something she values a lot more than she admits.

Her husband knows this. And it’s the only reason he let her go.

Leila looks at her daughter and can’t help feeling proud. Ever since Thea woke up from the coma, she’s changed so much. If Leila couldn’t see Thea’s face, she’d think this wasn’t her daughter at all.

There are moments she does think that way, but she quickly shuts the thought down. She’s consulted multiple experts about post-coma behavior, and they all said the same thing: personality changes are common. Some people even change their preferences entirely, there are cases where someone wakes up and no longer loves their spouse and asks for a divorce.

Thea still has her memories. That’s what matters. If she can remember who she was, remember her relationship with them, and still chooses to behave like this, Leila considers that a win. That’s what she always tells her husband.

She still blames herself, at least a little, for Thea’s coma. As a mother, she’d failed to notice what her daughter needed. She ignored her until it was too late. And now, with this second chance the universe handed her, she refuses to waste it.

Leila also knows that at some point, she’ll need to talk to Thea about her pre-coma life. There are unresolved things she wants to clear up. One thing she desperately wants Thea to understand is that she was loved.

She doesn’t want Thea thinking she was unloved and that her family only started caring after she fell into a coma. But Leila isn’t ready. She’s terrified that if she pushes too soon, Thea will withdraw again.

She loves this new version of her daughter and fears losing her.

She sighs.

Her mind drifts to the medical report from Dr. Leighton sitting in her email. As Thea’s psychiatrist, Dr. Leighton conducted one hypnosis session, and Leila remembers Thea screaming—like she was in tremendous pain.

A few days later, the report arrived. There was one paragraph Leila couldn’t shake:

"Thea was terrified of the world. Under hypnosis, she walked me through her childhood with ease. There is a sense of loneliness and abandonment there. But as she grew older, that loneliness shifted into self-hate. She believed the world was against her. The only place she felt safe was inside herself."

Leila doesn’t fully understand or maybe she refuses to. But she knows she needs to talk to Thea one day. Yet seeing her daughter now, bright and confident, she can’t reconcile this Thea with the girl who supposedly hated herself.

And that’s why Leila isn’t ready to bring up the past.

"Leila?"

"Aunt Lei?"

"Mother?"

She snaps out of her thoughts. "Hmm?"

She shakes her head. "I’m sorry. My mind was elsewhere. What did you ask me?"

Miranda links her arm through Leila’s and hands her an elegant beige handbag.

"We should go. We wouldn’t want to be late to your luncheon debut with the wit–" She catches herself. "– with the women of the Arvion High Société."

Claudia giggles at her mother’s almost slip of tongue. She loops her arm through Theo’s and hands her a little white leather purse.

"Let’s go, ladies. The witches await."