Hey, I'm back! It's a short chapter, but I hope you'll enjoy it. It reveals quite a lot of information and I was pretty pleased with it if I say so myself. Also, thank you so much for the lovely reviews, I really appreciate the time you guys take to tell me your thoughts on the story! :)

Also, I am not home right now and cannot check my writing now, so forgive me for the mistakes. I'll get rid of them when I'm back from my vacation.

NOT TO FORGET, I also published this story on AO3. If you prefer reading it there, then look for the link on my profile. I'm pretty new to that platform though, so I still need to get used to the tagging and stuff like that on that website.

Now, to the chapter!

Chapter 5

The girl with the pure intentions

"Have you seen the little one, the girl?"

"What girl are you speaking of?"

"The one next to him, right there."

"Oh, no! Goodness, I never expected him to have a daughter."

"No, no. She's the little sister of his first wife, though he does treat her as if she were his own. You certainly must meet her! She's exceptionally talented and seems to have a lot of potential in her. An interesting little thing, who inherited more than her mother's beauty."

"Really? Does she already have a fiancé? It's a shame she's a girl, though."

"Yes, such a shame and a waste of talent."

If she had only been a boy.

Reiji and his good-for-nothing brother had grown up with Adelise. It had been quite the experience.

First things first, she did stand out a lot to say the least. And she took pleasure in that, being different and such things. Her name, status and connections surely made her stand out, along with those distinct freckles and that mischievous smile planted on her face. Secondly, she loved attention. And it wasn't hard for her to get any, even Reiji's own mother gave her more attention –be it the good or bad type of attention—than he had ever gotten from her. It did infuriate him at times, but she was engaged to Shu, so it was only natural for her to spend time with his mother. Not that he liked that. At all.

The way Adelise got attention was just by being charming herself. She didn't need to work hard like he did, or anything of the sorts. She just had to smile and laugh to fit the perfect picture. She didn't have to work hard. And yet she did, every day, for no particular reason. Reiji could admire that, he had to admit that. She often studied with him, sometimes bothering him too with silly jokes and gossips or writing in that book of hers, but the effort was there. It was frustrating to see how she was able to outsmart him at times, but enjoyable at the same time too. He could say that he somehow, though he wasn't sure if that had been really the case, enjoyed her company. Whatever bad qualities she had, she was upright about everything. He appreciated that.

Besides studying with him and the more lady-like activities she had to attend like dancing, music lessons and sewing, she could often be found horseback riding and climbing trees and rocks in the forest behind the castle, much to everyone's dislike. It was expected of her to behave, but she only did so when she felt like it or when she was able to get something out of it. Otherwise, she would do as she pleased. She often returned with a dress full of mud and dirt, her hair covered with leaves, scratches, bloodied knees and an victorious smile.

"I've fought with a wolf. What a horrendous beast!" She would say to Reiji and Shu, giggling while she ran back and forth through the castle, with the two of them following her out of pure curiosity. You couldn't blame them, an aristocratic life could get boring, even for Reiji. Those escapades were nothing compared to what she would do later; she would disappear for days, for weeks. Even she would get bored of her perfect, aristocratic life. It was bound to happen. She would leave no matter what. Even if that meant she had to murder her way out.

7 December, ****, Adelise, entry 133.

I am tired of pretending.

My father has dumped me here a long time ago, along with my sister (she willingly came, glad to marry that man, unlike me). Do not get me wrong, I adore spending time with Shu and Reiji. I like them very much. I hope they feel the same way about me, but if not, then it can't be helped. I try my best to be nice to them, though. And the triplets, my dearest boys, I adore them. They deserve so much better. I wish I could give them that, but I cannot. That makes me sad. But nevertheless, I love being with them. Playing with them. All that stuff.

What I do not like however, is that they keep expect me to behave, be good and anything but myself. Of course I do as they say, but lately I was thinking… Is this what I am going to do for the rest of my life? Live the life of a liar, a fake?

Be better than the average girl, but never try surpassing your male counterparts. Behave yourself, you wretch.

That is what my dearest tutor tells me, that old hag who constantly scratches her back with that dirty poker from the fireplace in the study. She also uses it to hit me whenever I refuse to do as she wishes. Anyhow, she yells that fun phrase every day, every time. Today again, and she also hit me. Or, she tried. It was strange to see her not yelling or screaming (as she always did) when she happened to run into that famous fireplace poker I was holding.

She ran into it ten times.

There was a lot of blood, everyone in the castle panicked. They locked me up.

Again.

I had a fight with sister earlier today (about Ayato, again), so I wasn't in the best mood. I don't know, I just snapped. I guess that my tutor's behavior was the last drop that made the bucket overflow. And as I already stated, I am tired of pretending to be okay with all of this, pretending to be happy.

Today, on this very moment, I've decided to leave this place for good. I will be on the look for an adventure, a new life. Somewhere far away from here.

Somewhere exciting.

My whole life, I felt like I was searching for something I could reach. Something that would fill up that hollow feeling I felt in my bones, my stomach, everything.

And I have decided that today will be the day that I am going to look for that something.

I am tired of waiting too, you see.

3 September, ****. Ayano, entry 326.

I never hated my sister. I loved her very, very much. I can't lie about the fact that I was sad –no, devastated –when I heard she had died. Or killed. It doesn't really matter. After all those years not caring, not thinking about her, it broke me anyway.

It hurt.

So much.

She was the only family that connected me to my past, which was stolen away from me. Ripped from my hands.

Nevertheless, my sister deserved what she got. Never, never will I look away from what she did. What I hate are people who do not own up for what they do, even though I cannot say that I own up for my own crimes. It's hard. But at least I try. My sister however, never owned up for the things she did. She did not try. She thought she did right, for her own gain and her own good. It disgusts me.

I was sad when she died.

But I got over it quite quickly. I have my own family now. Small, but good, so good. A sister, a child, a husband.

I love my family.

I want to protect them.

Help them.

Save them.

I want to be there, for them and them only.

I love them so much.

And I will break anyone who dares to take them away from me.

21 May, ****. Ayano, entry 478.

Masami is getting worse. I am thinking about contacting that man again, but something in myself refuses to do so.

It started six years after she turned, before that everything went fine. Maybe even earlier, but Masami never tells you if she feels bad (be it physically or mentally), which is annoying. It wasn't until I confronted her with the distressing amount of in blood covered tissues that I found in the trash (guess even high society vampires need to scoop around in the trash every once in a while). It literally came from nowhere, that sickness. A nosebleed here and there, a lot of coughing and later, when it got worse, she even vomited blood.

I don't panic that easily, but I have to say that I was scared to the bone. I didn't know what to do. I went to ritual healers, witches as people would call them, who specialize in healing supernatural beings. They are also extremely private, so no one would be able to track me down. I brought her to that place. The results were shocking.

And a cure? Nope. There wasn't any. She would live for some time, and it would help if she drank my blood, which was purer than any other type of blood. It would at least stop the random coughing and bleeding, but on the inside her body would still be burning and fighting.

I need to find a solution. Something, anything.

I won't forgive myself if she dies. I cannot lose her.

4 November, ****. Ayano, entry 497.

I made Masami forget again. I know, I promised myself not to after the first time, but I did. She felt so unhappy, it was excruciating. Actually she asked me and kept asking me. I don't even know how she knows about that memory wiping thing. I never told her about it, so figures how she got her hands on that type of information. Though I do have a feeling who could be behind all of this. But I cannot waste my time on that.

Her nightmares were killing her and she barely slept, ate or drank. I practically forced her to drink my blood, I couldn't afford letting her health get any worse. I asked her several times why she wanted to forget. I couldn't understand why that would help her situation in the first place. She told me that she needed to get rid of the nightmares. That they were getting worse and worse and that she felt haunted.

She told me she would end her life if it were to get any worse. She couldn't handle it anymore. That day was the second time I saw her cry.

I promised to help her.

There is another thing, however. She will not be able to see Arielle anymore or Zen for that matter. She was really fond of Arielle, but told me that it would be better if she cut ties with them, to not trouble them with her problems anymore. It was all her idea. She lives of guilt, guilt from the past which couldn't be deleted, even after making her forget. And now, the guilt for troubling others who care a lot about her. She even wanted to cut ties with me, but I refused that. Not in a million years would she be able to throw me away like that, to forget me like that. I wouldn't allow her to. She needs me. I need her.

It wasn't just one memory wipe like last time. I made sure that she would end up being extremely forgetful, so that she wouldn't have to go through all of that again. I wouldn't allow It to go that far.

There is something else, too. Something good, at last.

I think I found a way to get rid of Masami's health problem for good. It won't be easy, but I need to do this.

For her.

OKAY, so you might want some explanations? I bet you do.

Reiji: Knows Adelise/Ayano the best out of all the Sakamakis. They were pretty close, even though he wouldn't want to admit that. I just had to enter a piece from him. Love him, honestly. (I'm not biased, I swear)

****? These represent a "year". It's up to your own imagination, but I think it's pretty clear that the gaps between some of the entries are quite big.

Arielle? Zen? You can't expect Ayano not to move on. She's an adventurous person. Even she can fall in love. Have a kid. She dreamed of an own life, a path she would make for herself, not one made by others. Notice another French name with an "A". (nostalgia to her former self, perhaps? Idk)

Masami's health issue? You'll find out later. On the bright side, Ayano the smartass found a solution! Yay (?) We'll see what happens, kiddo's.

Again, thank you for reading and if you have questions, don't be afraid to ask! Won't promise that I'll be able to answer everything, though haha.

FOLLOWS/ FAVS / REVIEWS ARE SEXY. THANK.