“Don’t worry, Célene. I know what I want to do now. I still have a lot to learn, sure… but I promise I’ll be careful.”

Violet turned to look at her.
Célene met her gaze with her usual serious, faintly sad expression, and gently stroked her cheek.

Without saying anything more, the woman moved behind her again, adjusting her clothes and beginning to brush her hair.

“Célene?” Violet murmured, staring into the fire, lost in thought.

“Yes, Violet…?”

“Do you think… that I’ll ever find a place that’s really mine?”

Célene remained silent, continuing to run the brush through her hair.

“You know, Violet… I’ve seen many children come through this place. But you… you’ve always had something different.”

She hit a knot in Violet’s hair and tugged, making the girl wince.

“Just look at your hair, your eyes. I’ve never met anyone with such a strange, unique, and interesting color as yours…”

Violet felt her cheeks burn.

“…Ever since you were a little girl, you were curious, stubborn, and you cried all the time…”
Violet listened, embarrassed, without turning around.

“…And you always talked about other places, other worlds. Like a home you were supposed to return to someday.”

The brush grew gentle again.

“I always thought the place you talked about was just something imaginary… or maybe the result of some strange dream…”

Violet listened to Célene’s words, puzzled.

Really? I don’t remember any of that…

“Yet you kept going. You cried, you complained… I think that’s when you started thinking about leaving one day, about becoming an adventurer…”

Violet watched the fire crackle.

“…And from then on, you never gave up. You rolled up your sleeves, tried to figure out how to make it happen, and when you grew older you took action. You started working, you saved money, and you bought everything you thought you’d need to chase your dream.”

Yes, it had been hard.
Violet had bent over backward to scrape together the money she needed.
And Célene had watched in silence the whole time, never once interfering.

“What I mean, Violet, is that I can’t tell you whether you’ll ever find a place that truly belongs to you. But I’m certain you’ll do everything in your power to reach it.”

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by soft whispers coming from the hallway.

Two little reddish ears peeked around the doorway, twitching as they tried to catch the conversation inside.
The children had gathered in the corridor, debating whether Violet was still angry at them and whether it was safe to show themselves.

“They care about you a lot, you know?”

Célene’s words reached Violet, who was glaring toward the door with irritation.

“Yes, I know…”

Violet forced herself to look away from the doorway, letting her anger fade.

Célene broke the silence.

“Well, we’re done here,” she said, folding the cloth she had used to dry Violet’s hair and placing it near the fire to dry.
“It’s almost dinner time. How about giving me a hand?”

Violet turned toward her, nodded, and stood up.

“Thanks…”

Célène grabbed a large ladle and began tapping the boiling pot over the fire.

“Dinner time! Come on, everyone!”

At her call, the children burst into the room at full speed, shouting and filling the place with noise.

Lili, the last to appear, timidly walked up to Violet.

“Big sis… are you still mad?”

Violet looked into her big round eyes and gently patted her head.

“No… I’m not mad.”

“Then you forgive us?” Negis hurried over, grabbing her hands.

Violet raised an eyebrow with an exaggeratedly regal air.

“Yes, I forgive you. But only this time. Make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“Yay, big sis forgave us!!!”

At her words, the children rushed noisily to the table, settling in for the meal.
Once everyone was seated, Violet helped Célene serve dinner to the kids, then finally sat down herself, looking into her own bowl.

Inside was a vegetable soup with tiny bits of meat floating on the surface, accompanied by stale bread.

They ate while chatting about this and that, until the youngest ones’ eyes grew shiny and heavy with sleep.

After clearing the table, Célene stayed in the kitchen to tidy up, while Violet took the children to their room, helping them get ready for the night and tucking them into their beds.
Once she had wished them goodnight and blown out the candle, she walked back down the corridor to her own room.

The interior was simple and bare.
There was a low, plain bed and a shelf cluttered with disorganized trinkets.
A small table sat beside it, with a short candle on top, which Violet lit before sitting down.

On the table lay a thick, worn-out book with a barely readable title:

“Beginner’s Magic Manual”

A battered volume Violet had bought years ago in a magic-goods shop in the lower district.

Over time, the children had filled it with doodles and silly drawings of animals, making several pages nearly unreadable.

She read through it, reviewing spell names and imagining all the situations where they might come in handy, picturing herself in those scenarios.

Once satisfied, Violet set the now nearly melted candle near her bed.
After slipping under the covers, her gaze lingered for a moment on the staff resting on the table, its surface sparkling faintly in the candlelight.

Losing herself in her fantasies, she finally closed her eyes.