Yuki felt a great pain inside her heart, but she refused to call him back and ask for forgiveness. She was still confused by the story of the ritual and her uncertainty about Selytha's father.
She left the hospital and handed the paper to the driver who took her to a rainbow-painted building with dancing bears and penguins. It was a school. She went inside and, looking for her daughter, saw her alone, with her finger in her mouth as she looked steadily at her. Yuki approached with concern. She had never seen such an expression on Selytha's face.
She took the girl in her arms and asked her many questions, which she answered only with a nod.
"I brought you a doll and some clothes." Yuki said, putting her down and picking up the shopping bag, handing over the doll. The girl took it and an excited gleam appeared in her eyes, but she took the doll suspiciously.
"What's wrong, Selytha?"
"Uncle Tykar says I can't be your daughter." She said at last.
"What else did he say?"
"What else does he have to tell me, Mom?"
Yuki looked proudly at her daughter. She was far too intelligent for her age.
"There's nothing else, princess."
The girl looked at the doll with an excited gleam in her eyes, but seemed torn between her toy and her mistrust.
"He said you married a man who can't possibly know I exist."
Yuki frowned. Attila had no right to have revealed these things to the girl.
"He had to tell me, Mom. I was showing your picture in the hospital magazine to all the nurses and telling them that you were my mother. And if I'd gone on, one of them might have believed me and taken me away from you." She said and put her finger back in her mouth.
Yuki knelt down and hugged her.
"Do you forgive me for not telling you before?"
"I do, Mom. Why did you marry him? Did you do it to pay for my treatment?"
"Yes."
"Thank you, Mom."
"Now, I need you to help me. I'm going to take you to live in a very big house, but you won't be able to call me Mom, ever."
"I don't like that." The girl said whimpering.
"I don't like it either, my child. But your health could get worse if we leave this country, and I don't want you to keep living in a hospital." Yuki looked at her. "I like those clothes you're wearing!"
The girl looked disdainfully at the yellow dress and then back at Yuki.
"What do I call you, Mom?"
"Yuki. Call me Yuki when you're in the presence of other people."
The girl shook her head effusively in agreement.
...
A few hours earlier...
Atila was in the palace library, meeting with the Gumis, when he saw Yuki's peaceful form walk through the door, worried that she wouldn't be seen. He smiled and Mycon approached and stood next to him.
"She's the spy?"
"She's more than that. She has my blood. She's my cousin."
"Are you going to report her?"
"No." Atila said and turned to Mycon. "She'll be useful. She took Farida to the Pharaoh, knowing that Yuki could be sentenced to death for entering the Ward uninvited. She'll cause intrigue between them. And that will be good. Yuki trusts people a lot. It'll be a good lesson."
Atila said and remembered Selytha.
"Carry on with the meeting without me. There are two things I need to do urgently." He said and left.
Atila arrived at the hospital and Selytha ran up and jumped in for a hug. He picked her up with an affectionate smile.
"How are you, my princess?"
"I'm fine, Uncle."
Atila put el on the floor and knelt down to get closer to her size.
"Selytha, I need you to come with me."
"Why?"
"You know why."
She raised her hand and snapped her fingers and a small cloud of ice that arose from that contact was soon dissipated by a small flash of fire.
"Because of that?" She asked with a cold look on her face.
"You haven't shown it to anyone else, have you?"
She nodded.
"Selytha, I need you to listen to me carefully. I'm going to take care of you. Your mother will find a way to take you to the palace and I'll train you in secret. Do you want that?"
"Are you going to train me to be a warrior?" Her eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Yes. A powerful warrior. But you have to be strong. Warriors are strong. And follow everything I'm going to tell you now." He said and began to give instructions to the girl who was listening attentively.
When he had finished, a woman from his army approached in a yellow dress and Selytha looked disapprovingly at her.
"I want armor!"
Atila cracked a rare smile.
"Yes. You'll wear armor, but only when you're training. In front of people, you won't be a warrior. You'll be a princess."
"Why?"
"Because, my sweet Selytha, you are very threatening, dangerous and lethal when you appear fragile."
Selytha nodded and left with the army woman and Attila went to the kingdom of the Waves.
...
Sean was standing in front of the throne when the soldier he had tasked with following Yuki arrived with news. The soldier stopped beside him.
"She went to the hospital where Attila worked." He said with a worried look.
"Attila was there?"
"Yes. But not as a doctor. Just as Pharaoh ordered, he resigned from the hospital today."
"Did you find out what she was doing in the hospital? Did she use a room for her encounters with men?"
"No, Pharaoh. According to some nurses, she visited sick people and never met anyone inside."
Sean approached the throne and faced the soldier.
"Kurtin, I need you to be my trusted man."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"You're going to send someone to Michigan and look deeply into Yuki's life. I even want to know how many pairs of socks she owned, where she went to school, who her friends were and above all, any connection to places Atila frequented must be highlighted in the report."
"Pharaoh... You suspect that his wife Ra... is having an improper relationship with your brother?"
Sean looked darkly at the soldier.
"If anyone else hears about it..." He said menacingly.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will never speak."
"You must continue to follow her discreetly. Attila must have already warned her, but... She's absent-minded. She'll forget."
"But not Attila. And he lives here in the palace. If he meets his wife Ra discreetly, it won't be a difficult task for him."
"I have to think that she's not capable of betraying me. I've known Yuki for years and she's always been sweet and had impeccable ethics. She can't have changed that much in a short space of time. I know she's confused and facing some problem that she doesn't yet trust me to solve, and I won't allow Atila to take advantage of her fragile moment. I know that he knows exactly why she looks so unhappy and worried. I don't understand why she trusted him to tell her and not me."
"Pharaoh... She's not going to talk to you, because no one risks giving their loved one a problem that could drive them away forever. People usually share these problems with someone who won't be missed when they're gone."
"Do you think Farida loves me?"
"I'm sure, Pharaoh."
Sean looked amusedly at Kurtin.
"You're a good friend."
"Do you remember that we studied martial arts together?"
"Yes. You used to go to the palace with your sister. What's her name again?"
"Helena."
"Yes. Helena." Sean said dreamily. "The most beautiful young woman in the royal court. What happened to her? Is she married yet?"
"No. She still frequents the palace foyers."
Sean frowned.
"But she was already of marriageable age when we were still nine!"
"Yes. But it wasn't just you who noticed her beauty, Pharaoh."
"What are you saying?"
"The Duke of Aria. He fell in love with her. She fell in love with him. And even though she knew he would marry another woman, she agreed to be his mistress. And they were happy for the first few years, until the duke's wife became pregnant. He was so enchanted by the prospect of being a father that he decided to listen to his wife's pleas and abandoned my sister."
"So... Helena is still single!"
"I don't understand the joy in your voice."
"Kurtin! Attila was in love with her! Helena could be the answer to all my problems!"
Kurtin became pensive.
"Yes. Prince Attila doesn't come to our parties and I don't think I've ever heard that Helena is single..."
"We'll change that. I'll make Yuki so busy organizing a big party that while she prepares a suitable environment for Atila to fall in love with his sister again, I can take care of other matters."
"Other matters?"
"The crowns, Kurtin. I need them."
Kurtin nodded in agreement.
"I'll see to it that Helena is the most beautiful woman at this party." He said and bowed slightly. "And I will now discuss with your army a way of... get those crowns back."
Sean gestured with his hand to release him and as soon as he was alone, he sat down on the throne.