(From Carmila)

Despite my feelings, I couldn't get rid of the woman that was carrying the legacy of the Cygnus' family. Not yet at least. I tried to keep acting as professional as I had, but in retrospect, I might have been a bit too strict. The attitude of the Madame started to change as her pregnancy progressed too. Instead of ignoring whatever I said, she would obey me without any question. The aura that made me shiver whenever I got close to her also weakened, but her expression remained as inscrutable and unreadable as before, at least at the start. One afternoon, she called for me.

—Carmila —she said, looking me straight in the eyes—, there is a man called Maxwell Conrad, a doctor at the capital. I'll be in need of his services, get him to come, no matter how much money he asks for.

—Maxwell Conrad? —I asked. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but I was sure there were other doctors with more reputation and experience—, may I ask why him specifically?

—I will be in need of his services, that's all you need to know —she said, in a calm yet strong voice.

It was the first time she had been so commanding in such a long time, it was so vexing I couldn't find the words to refute her.

—I... I understand. Will that be all?

—Yes... No, wait —she said, and I saw her expression change; she looked conflicted, confused, and even a bit scared —I have a bad feeling... It is still too early, but we might need some nurses to come to support the doctor during the delivery. Maybe even a priest.

—O-of course, Madame —I said with a slight bow, and got out of the room.

I was really confused by her sudden change of attitude, more than before. My confusion did nothing but grow as she shifted between her stoic and cold personality, over to her more mellow and timid one more and more often, without any warning. I did contact Dr. Conrad and got him to visit us. He and the Madame clashed from their very first meeting, but she insisted on having him treat her, and the doctor never even attempted to quit.

I did hear her singing to her yet to be born baby once or twice, when she thought nobody was listening. When the day of the delivery finally arrived, it was as the Madame had suspected; it went bad very quickly. Yet, thanks to the precautions we have taken, and the tenacity of the doctor, both her and the baby were alive and healthy at the end of it. Our young lady Violett was such a precious baby.

From that point, the Madame seemed to have fully embraced her more "nice and humble" personality, but she became more decisive, especially in matters respecting the young lady. I had planned on discretely bringing the task of raising Violett to ourselves, the attendants. This was not uncommon among noble families, and that would help us later when we were to get rid of the Madame. But she insisted quite emphatically on never leaving the baby alone. At first I suspected she had seen through my plans and wanted to secure her place in the household, but the more I saw her, the more I was convinced Rosanne just loved her daughter. I... decided to put my plans on hold for the moment, and just observe her.

She got the idea of fixing the greenhouse, and I of course tried to stop it. That place was special for the previous madame, and... it was special to me as well. It had fallen into disrepair even before Lady Igraine passed away, she was too weak to continue taking care of the plants. Sir Uther had plenty of them moved into her room, so she could be surrounded by what she loved in her last moments. He tried to continue taking care of them after she passed away, but his health didn't allow him to do it properly. My mother also tried to help, but taking care of Sir Uther and Arthur was more than enough to handle. By the time I went back, it was beyond repair.

—I think we should get rid of the greenhouse —I said to Arthur, years before he even meet the Madame.

—Again with that?— he replied, it wasn't the first time I had mentioned it— I would imagine you would be more sentimental about it.

—I am. I don't like the idea of having it torn down, but I also don't like to see it in such a state. Your mother would also be sad if she saw it now.

He let a sigh out of his mouth, and drew a slight smile on his face.

—I got it, I'll get someone to come and repair it —he said, but he never did.

Work always had him occupied, thousands of ideas in his mind. Even if he had gotten it fixed, cleaned, and full of plants, he wouldn't have time to take care of it and it would have become abandoned yet again. I eventually gave up and just got accustomed to seeing it rotting away every time I walked to the garden.

I wasn't too comfortable with letting Rosanne take charge of repairing it, but she somehow convinced me to let her be in charge of reviving it. She got a group of adventurers, out of everyone possible, to get it deep clean through very unusual means. I might have suggested her to get someone who knew magic, but I meant a professional cleaner. She got several kinds of seeds, and to my surprise, most of them actually sprouted thanks to her diligent work. She would take Lady Violett with her and sing while taking care of the plants.

I was horrified when some of the plants turned out to be monster plants, and more so when she would let the baby touch them, but they never even tried to attack them. Still, it would take me years to not be anxious every time they went there to have a "tea party".

One night, out of nowhere, she was attacked by a mysterious assailant who managed to get into the mansion's barrier. Her life was saved by Eve, the Rose Nymph, a monster plant, but pretty distinct to the ones I have seen before. For one, she could walk, and she looked remarkably human-like, like a toddler. She became attached to Rosanne instantly, crying whenever she had to separate for her, but eventually she would start to become more and more independent. She started to follow me and the other attendants, paying attention to what we were doing. She took me by surprise when she stopped making simple noises and began to use words.

—You... work... for... parent? —was one of the first coherent sentences she managed to form.

—Y-yes? We work for madame Dragonroot —Gabi replied, being the first among us to understand what she meant.

The Nymph smiled.

—Then... I help... you.

—You will? Thank you! —our chef said, lifting her from the ground and placing her on the counter—, let's make a delicious dinner for the Madame!

—Yes! Delicious!

At that point, most of us surely thought that was just her wanting to play with us. I thought she would become bored of our mundane and repetitive tasks and she would run to play with Violett instead, yet she never did. Years later she would eventually ask to be trained to be an attendant.

—Are you sure about this? —Rosanne said, after Eve had brought the topic several times.

—Yes! I want to be useful to you.

—There is no need for that —Rosanne replied, looking uncomfortable—. Fine, but don't overdo it.

—Really! Thank you! —the Nymph said, almost jumping out of emotion.

Going back to the aftermath of the attempt on Rosanne's life, there was a big investigation to find who had been behind the attack, and even the Queen got involved. I tried to help as much as I could, not only had I started to dislike Rosanne a bit less, but whoever attacked her might try to hurt my colleagues and the young lady. I couldn't sleep soundly even after the shield had been fixed, though the constant tremors that could be felt at that time didn't help.

Then, the night of our young lady's first birthday, someone tried to kidnap her. They put us all to sleep with magic, and by the time I and the rest of the attendants woke up, everything was over. The house was surrounded by her Majesty's soldiers. We had no idea what was going on, and they didn't tell us anything. All of our movements were restricted, we were only allowed to get out of our rooms to go to the bathroom and the kitchen. It was only several hours after noon that the doctor made us gather in the study room. He looked exhausted.

—During the night —he spoke—, someone tried to kidnap Violett, and they hurt Rosanne in the process...

—By the gods! —Sophie yelled, covering her mouth. She seemed ready to run out of the room, but the doctor stopped her.

—They are both fine and safe, all things considered. She will need some time to recover.

That was a relief, but there was still something amiss.

—W-what happened? Who stopped the kidnappers? —Nora asked.

—We... are still investigating it.

—But how could someone go through the barrier? The Madame got it fixed! —Sophie said.

—...Someone manipulated the permits on the barrier to let them pass through. It is possible they did the same before and the whole glitch was a coincidence, they just didn't reverse the change this time.

I had a bad feeling. I looked around.

—Where is Iridia?

The doctor's expression became even more somber.

—We... believe she was involved with the kidnappers, and she was the one who let them in.

—W-what? That can't be! —I bluntly said. I just couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it.

—She is one of us! How could you say something like that?! —Gaby angrily spoke. I think that's the only time I have heard her raise her voice.

The doctor let out an exasperated sigh.

—We still need to investigate more, but she was the only one who wasn't affected by the sleep spell, and we found her alongside the surviving assailants. Once Rosanne wakes up she will confirm or deny her involvement.

We were told to return to our rooms, and the following days we continued to be monitored. We were given a bit more freedom, since the soldiers had picked up anything that could be considered evidence already, but we weren't allowed to leave the house, and much less to get anywhere near Rosanne's room. The closer we could get was right in front of the stairs. I went there, and felt a breeze. I looked up, and saw a giant hole on the wall. This mansion was made with bricks and mortar, and reinforced with earth magic. Only something as strong as a canon could make a hole like that.

The Queen visited Rosanne's quite frequently, and whenever she caught a glimpse of me, I could feel the wrath in her eyes. It was no surprise then, when several days later, her soldiers told me they were detaining me, to investigate if I had helped Iridia in any way. I couldn't blame them, I was actually guilty of doing so. Only three people knew the passwords to the barrier's systems, Rosanne, Iridia, and I. And it has been me who showed Iridia how to do it, as part of her training. She was the only one who could have done it, and I should have known from that first incident. That glitch made us run in a fool's errand, and I never suspected she could do something like that. She was one of us. She was... my friend.

I felt like a fool, everything she had said or done must have had an ulterior motive. She wanted to capture our young lady... could she have been trying to drive a wedge between me and Rosanne when she told me that she didn't expect Arthur to come back. I had fallen for her tricks, going so far to despise the woman that Arthur had chosen as his wife, and the mother of his daughter. I decided to accept any punishment that the law would find appropriate, it was the least I could do to mend my mistakes.

Yet... Rosanne defended me. She would have all the rights to suspect and cast me away, yet she sided with me. I felt guilty, but more than anything, I felt grateful. From that point, I decided to support her, even if at times her ideas and ours weren't compatible. I wasn't going to just give her a free pass for everything.