Mother

And once he left, it was just me and the maid left in the room. So, I decided to have a chat with her.

"Hey, maid... Wait, what's your name, by the way?" I asked.

"Oh, my apologies. My name is Claire." She replied.

"Hmm, Claire. Is there anything you wanna ask me?" I asked her.

"Actually, there is. I'd like to know what you think about the third prince." She replied.

"You mean, how do I feel about him?" I asked her again.

"Yea." She smiled.

"I don't really know him. But he sounds like an okay guy." I said,

"Oh, I see. So, what do you think about him marrying you? Does it make you happy or would you wanna choose someone else?" She asked.

"No... Just confused... Really confused. I mean, is the fact that our family has monstrous traits a well kept secret or does everyone know about it?" I asked back.

"Everyone in the empire knows about it, my lady." Claire replied.

"Is that so? Then it just makes things a whole lot of weird. I mean, tell me. Why would he decide to marry me if he knows that I'm some sort of fearsome monster?" I asked.

"I think he has his reasons to do so. Maybe he just wants to explore the new world or something like that." She replied.

"I see. Well, he's welcome to do that. But I'm not sure why he'd want to do that by marrying me." I said,

"He would know what he's doing. He's the third prince after all." Claire replied.

She then bowed and excused herself from the room.

It was now just me left. I was now left all by myself. But then again, I didn't feel as lonely as before. The presence of all these people around me was making me feel a little better.

But there was one more person in the castle. Maybe it was the monster inside me telling me about the person's existence or maybe it is something else, but this got me curious. So, I decided to go out and look for her.

After a while, I found her in the garden. It seemed like she was enjoying the view of the red roses in the garden. She looked way older than me, but there was an eloquence in the way she looked. Anyhow, I decided to approach her.

"Hey, umm... Are you one of the maids around here?" I asked her.

"Hmm, don't you think it's a little weird to call your own mother a maid?" She asked with a smile on her face.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't-" I was quite flustered at that point.

"Don't worry about it. Your father told me about what's going on with you. You had your first transformation, but while that happened, your memories got merged with someone else's right?" She asked.

"Right. I'm sorry once again, you know?" I apologized once again.

"As I said, it is fine." She smiled as she walked towards me and placed her hand in my head. "So, how are you feeling right now?"

"I feel like dying." I replied. "I'm sorry. I should be happier than this."

"No, you shouldn't. Sometimes, you should just let yourself feel how you feel right now. At least you know that you're alive. Also, your transformation is not your fault or anything, you know?" She asked.

"I guess." I replied.

"There you go. Well, as for my name, I guess there is no point for me to introduce myself since you already know it, right?" She asked.

"Are you sure about that? Because I have another person's memories as well now, so maybe I forgot it?" I asked her.

"Katarina... I'm your mother, Katarina." She introduced herself. She then gave me a hug.

I could feel her warmth flowing into me, which was a feeling that I really missed. It had been a while since someone hugged me like that. It seems like the one inside me lost his mother in early ages as well. So, this was something really heartwarming.

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine. You'll get your memories back soon enough. I believe in you." She said.

"Thank you, mother." I replied sadly.

"Your father is worried about you as well. You know that right?" She asked.

"I know, but I'm still not used to calling him father yet. I feel like I'm being disrespectful to his real daughter and all of that." I replied.

"No, you're not. He told me that he knows that you're the one destined to be his successor. So, it's only natural for you to call him father, you know?" She replied.

"I guess... And I'm glad to hear that." I replied.

"Right now, you should focus on gathering everything that you've lost. So, I suggest that you go back to your room and try to calm down. I'll also keep you company, if you wish to." She said as she looked at me.

"Are you sure? What if I start transforming again?" I asked her.

"Let us pray that it doesn't happen." She replied with a smile.

"Okay then. I guess I'll go back to my room now." I replied.

"Oh, and by the way, you don't have to call me mother right now. Just Katarina is enough." She smiled.

"You do know that I can't do that, right?" I asked.

"Well, I thought it would be comfortable for you since you weren't comfy calling your father as father, you know?" She shrugged.

"I mean, that's different... I guess. I don't know. Things have been confusing for a while now." I replied.

"Hmm, you can do as you like, you know? If you feel like calling me mother, then do that. If you don't, then do as I suggested and call me Katrina. It's fine either way, you know? I just want to see my daughter happy and fine." She said with a warm smile that melted my heart.

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