56th Dawn - Set Aflame

"Finally... That girl's out of the way..."

Mood visibly uplifted, the Baron's daughter relishes the reposeful ambience of her office, an exultant grin splattered on her face. Two days have passed ever since the new recruit fell out of her father's favor and was prohibited from entering the headquarter. These were all too much to savor for just one day, though, especially since she was only getting started. Those kinds of underhanded measures were nothing at all. She may have gone overboard with the public humiliation, or when she ordered the other apprentices to throw her portfolio away, but that's nothing compared to what the society can actually do to her once her creations are uncovered.

"It's such a petty dream, anyway. She clearly doesn't have what it takes."

That feisty girl who's fond of acting like some kind of a know-it-all. Faking a passion. Goofing around yet still managing to land on people's favors. A pathetic wannabe. Can get violent and aggressive at times. A commoner and a complete nobody. Would walk around their territory as if it's her own.

Lillian Daffodil was infuriating, indeed.

She doesn't despise her, though. It's not worth her time to nurse such misguided hatred. She was just riled up with how she's slowly starting to resemble her impudent and ludicrous younger brother. Both of them had their own little world that should get a good shaking, and it just happened that she has the guts and power to do it. It also turned out that the two possess the same talent, which is pushing her buttons and rubbing her off to that extent.

"Look at this, Sandra. Isn't it lovely? I wonder who's the portraitist..."

Back at that art gallery, her father showed her something that kept her on her toes for days. It wasn't the picture of a certain white-haired girl that he was pointing to at that time, though. It was that all too familiar look on his beaming face. He's eyeing the drawing as if it's a kaleidoscopic epiphany, the light on the end of a tunnel, and a perfected masterpiece. She knew that expression all to well. It's already ancient at this point. After all, it's the one he'd often wear when their mother was still alive and back when Alexander was under his supervision.

A sight she never get to see when she's the one who's in front of him.

She thought he finally got rid of such emotions when their mother died, so she did everything to make them spring back up again - taking an apprenticeship she doesn't want, managing the house and their business, rising to top of her social circles, and becoming the perfect daughter. But in the end, Alexander easily beat her to it. He caught their father's eye without even learning anything else aside from fashion. It's as if inheriting the house didn't satisfy him enough.

Then again, it all came back to fashion.

"Listen, Sandra. I finally signed a contract with Miss Lillian and took it upon myself to take her in. Her creations are simple, but never been done before. She also told me that she has more in store. Isn't she quite a great catch, dear?"

"Lillian? You mean, that muse back then?"

"Yes. Come to think of it, she's truly as lovely as how that portrait depicts her to be."

"Father, please don't do this just to annoy Alex..."

"Of course not, dear. She has potential!"

That's when Alessandra saw it again - the face of someone who's looking at a diamond in the rough. It's the day when the contract was formed, and even though he had disowned Alexander ages ago, it still popped up again. This time, it's even more vexing. The one who made it happen is an outsider, after all. Sure, they had that encounter at that alley before, but that also left a not-so-good impression on her.

At first, Alessandra was caught off guard when she learned about her disguise that day since she's supposed to be carrying out a personal endeavor incognito, which involved observing and collecting information on a certain brother of hers whom she learned was about to establish his own atelier. She admits that she's in the wrong when she suspected her as Alexander's spy, but then, it still turns out that her reason is so absurd that she finds it a waste of time.

"Heh... Crossdressing? She's out of her mind. Why would anyone find that amusing to the point they'd follow a stranger? Freya doesn't need such a trivial pursuit."

Thus, she leaked the contract.

It was all flowing smoothly. She had fun peeving her through stealthy means. Everyone at Freya, including her fellow apprentices, agree with her, anyway. She doesn't deserve the attention. She's overrated, and has been given too much credits. What's more, she got to know something quite freakish about her, which ultimately made her believe that she reeks of nothing but bad news.

"Her eyes glowed, Father," was what Alessandra told Baron Pierre on Lillian's last day at Freya, right after the confrontation in the lobby.

"Oh come on. Be sensible, Sandra. You mean, figuratively?"

"No, Father. I'm the only one who saw it since she's facing me that time, and I'm sure that her eyes glowed. Like literally...!"

Searing scarlet irises, ablaze like the burning red-orange hues of dawn.

Alessandra never saw it before. When her father refused to believe it and just shrugged it off as a product of her imagination or something, she also tried to convince herself that what he said was indeed the case. But then, she just couldn't. Though she did manage to put it at the back of her mind, that image still lingers in her head up to the present. It's deeply engraved in her memory. The sight overwhelmed her for a second as the only reason she could think of suddenly came to light.

"Was it magic?"

She wasn't sure. Had it not for her brother interrupting, she'd probably melt at how intense it was. That's one of the the main reasons why she's relieved that she finally got rid of her. She's a complete outsider. Even her father couldn't dig much in her background, or he just probably didn't really try at all since he couldn't see the use. At this point, she thinks it's quite fathomable to call her a person shrouded with mysteries and perhaps, even anomalies.

"Good thing she went to that imbecile of a brother in the end. Freya won't entertain such things..."