The maid waited in front of the door with her hands clasped over her apron and an expression that mixed impatience with resignation. Her eyes moved over the robe Gaelira had hurriedly put on, but she made no comment. She simply handed her a long-sleeved black dress she had brought with her and waited in the hallway while she changed.
Getting dressed proved much more complicated than Gaelira would have liked to admit, although she managed to understand how the clasps and cords worked after several attempts. When she finally left the room, the maid examined the result, corrected one fold of the skirt, and began walking without offering any explanation.
Gaelira followed her through a corridor decorated with old portraits and crystal lamps containing the same blue flames as the one in her room. The mansion looked elegant when she focused on its high ceilings and carved furniture, but it only took a little attention to notice the faded paint, patched curtains, and several sections of the floor where the wood had begun to crack.
The maid was the only person they had encountered since leaving the room. There was no movement in the hallways or sounds of work coming from other parts of the house. The family owned a mansion far too large for the number of people they could afford to maintain it.
'Low-ranking nobles,' Gaelira thought as she descended a staircase. 'In debt, with few servants and a daughter who spent money as if it would never run out.'
Every detail made the letters she had found in her room even more irritating. The old Gaelira had not only wasted her own opportunities. She had also consumed resources her family probably needed.
The girl had lived surrounded by magic, private education, and weapons she had never used, while he had been forced to calculate how much money he could spend each week without affecting his mother's medicine or transportation. Thinking about her made Gaelira slow down. If this was not a dream, her mother was alone on Earth, perhaps waiting for news about a son who would never wake up.
The maid stopped in front of two tall doors and placed one hand on one of them. "Your parents are waiting for you in the dining room, Lady Gaelira." Her tone remained respectful, although it held no warmth. Before opening the door, she held Gaelira's gaze for several seconds. "I advise you to listen before answering. Your mother did not make this decision easily."
"Do you know what she wants to tell me?" Gaelira asked, but the maid simply opened the door and stepped aside to let her enter. There was no open rejection in her expression, only the exhaustion of someone who had already witnessed too many similar arguments.
Gaelira took a deep breath and crossed the threshold, wondering how many times the previous owner of that body had turned family conversations into fights.
The dining room was large enough for the table to seat twenty people, but only two places were occupied. Lady Evelyne Veyr sat at one end with her back straight and her hands resting beside an untouched cup. Her black hair was tied back without a single strand out of place, and her features resembled Gaelira's enough to confirm their relation.
To her right sat Lord Alistair Veyr, a narrow-shouldered man with dark hair crossed by a few gray strands. While Evelyne looked directly at her daughter, he kept his attention on his breakfast.
"You're late," Evelyne said.
Gaelira looked at the enchanted clock on the wall and then took the chair across from her parents. "I'm sorry. I didn't know what time I was supposed to be here."
Alistair raised his head at the apology, surprised, but lowered it again when Evelyne glanced at him. The woman studied Gaelira with uncomfortable attention, as if searching for signs of a lie. "The maid knocked on your door three times before you decided to answer, but fine. I won't turn this into another argument about your inability to respect other people's time."
Gaelira was about to explain that she had only heard the last knocks, but a sharp pain crossed her head before she could. For an instant, the dining room disappeared and she found herself looking at the same door from inside her bedroom. She remembered a voice calling to her while she hid her head beneath a pillow. She felt the irritation of being awakened after returning home late and heard her own voice, younger but unmistakably feminine, ordering the maid to leave.
The vision vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Gaelira pressed her fingers against her skirt to hide the trembling in her hands.
'Those aren't my memories.'
Evelyne interpreted her silence as an invitation to continue. "We received a response from Crownspire Academy. They accepted your enrollment for the new term."
The name awakened something inside Gaelira. She saw dark towers rising over a mountain, banners waving from elevated bridges, and an enormous spire crowned by a circle of light. The image remained in her mind for only a few seconds, but it was enough to fill her with a mixture of curiosity and fear. If that place taught magic, perhaps she could find information there about what had happened to her and discover whether there was a way to return to her mother.
"A magic academy?" she asked.
Evelyne's expression hardened. "Don't pretend this is the first time you've heard its name. We obtained an opportunity this family was no longer in any position to afford. Crownspire is not the most prestigious institution in the kingdom, but it is the only one willing to accept you after reviewing your record. You have an old family favor to thank for that, and it is one we will not be able to call upon a second time."
New memories struck Gaelira. Closed books gathering dust, a practice sword abandoned in the rain, and coins sliding across a shop counter. Then she saw Evelyne's disappointed face after discovering that some of the study materials had disappeared.
The old Gaelira had sold several books to buy dresses she only wore once.
She had also skipped her training, ignored her magic exercises, and wasted the money meant for her education.
"How could you do all of that?" Gaelira murmured without realizing it.
"That's exactly what I've been asking myself for years," Evelyne replied. For the first time, something deeper showed beneath her severity. It was not hatred, but exhaustion. "We paid instructors, replaced the materials you lost, and accepted every promise that you would change. Your father even paid the debts you accumulated without our knowledge."
Alistair moved one hand uncomfortably across the table. "We thought she needed time."
"We gave her time," Evelyne replied without taking her eyes off her daughter. "And now we have almost nothing left to offer."
Gaelira then understood that the distance between them had not appeared overnight. Another memory showed Evelyne sitting beside her bed during an illness, holding her hand while promising that she would not let anything happen to her.
Then she saw her waiting with a small box in her hands on the day Gaelira was supposed to perform her first magic demonstration. The girl never showed up. Every attempt to grow closer had ended in another disappointment, until the woman had learned to speak to her daughter as if she were negotiating with someone she could not trust.
"This will be your last chance," Evelyne declared. "We will pay for your first year at Crownspire. If you abandon your classes, get expelled, or waste what we are sacrificing for you again, you will lose our support. We will not pay your debts, and you will not be allowed to return to live in this house."
Gaelira slowly nodded. The conditions were harsh, but they did not seem unfair. "I understand."
The silence that followed revealed that neither of her parents had expected that answer. Alistair looked up and Evelyne narrowed her eyes, still convinced that the acceptance was hiding some kind of scheme. "You leave today," she added. "Your luggage has already been sent, and the carriage is waiting."
Gaelira felt the air leave her lungs. She needed time to understand the memories, learn the basic rules of that world, and discover what this body could do. However, from Evelyne's expression, she knew the decision had already been made. "I'm not refusing," she clarified, trying to keep her voice calm. "I would just like a few days to prepare. Two or three would be enough."
"No."
The answer came before Gaelira had even finished adjusting herself in the chair. She closed her mouth and accepted that insisting would change nothing.
"It's for the best," Alistair murmured. His words supported Evelyne, but his eyes remained fixed on the table. "Crownspire may be able to give you the discipline we couldn't teach you."
The word teach stayed with her for several seconds.
'He really isn't to blame for any of this. It's all Gaelira, the spoiled semi-rich girl,' she thought.
Gaelira wanted to tell them that she was not the young woman who had disappointed them, although she knew the truth would sound more absurd than any excuse the old Gaelira had ever used. She would have to carry the consequences of a life she had never lived while searching for a way to recover her own. "All right. I'll go."
Evelyne did not look relieved. She pulled a dark wand from her sleeve and raised it before Gaelira could ask what she was doing. Violet light emerged from the tip and spread through the dining room like mist. Gaelira tried to stand, but her legs immediately lost their strength.
"That's not necessary," she managed to say while gripping the edge of the table. "I'm not going to run away."
"You've told me that before," Evelyne replied. Her voice trembled just enough to betray that she did not enjoy what she was doing. "And I can't believe you again simply because you've decided to speak calmly today."
The maid entered the dining room just as Gaelira began to fall. She caught her by the shoulders and prevented her from hitting the floor while darkness slowly invaded her vision. Alistair remained seated, unable to look at her, and Evelyne kept the wand raised until she was certain the spell had worked.
"Take her to the carriage," she ordered.
Gaelira could no longer open her eyes, but she still heard her mother's footsteps approaching. She felt a hand brush the hair away from her face with a gentleness that did not match the coldness shown during the conversation. Evelyne remained silent for several seconds and then whispered words she probably did not expect her daughter to hear.
"Please, don't waste your last chance this time."
Darkness completely surrounded Gaelira as the maid began carrying her away from the dining room. Her final thought before losing consciousness was not about Crownspire or the family she had just met, but about the mother she had left behind.
'Wait for me, Mom. I'll find a way back.'