I left the House of the Vestals, where I had lived since I was barely nine years old, and I closed the door behind me that day. I was going to fetch water towards the Fontana de Egeria to make Mola Salsa, a kind of cake that the Vestals made and ate on several occasions. The truth is, I wasn't used to going out as often as I would have done if I had been a normal girl in my father's kingdom, so I smiled every time I saw people bowing to me.

It was a humid day, like every day in that kingdom. My toes, sticking out from under the yellow dress with the orange diamonds on the skirt, were burning with heat, and the blisters were starting to break out as the Sun God was hitting hard too. I wiped the sweat from the fair skin on my forehead and thought about my dream of opening my ice cream shop since I was a child.

I arrived at the Fontana de Egeria, which I found among some bushes near the defensive barrier of the kingdom's capital, in 15 minutes. The wall of the fountain was made of volcanic tuff and was 10 meters high, 3.8 meters wide and 11 kilometres long.

"I think that's enough water," I said after the Goddess blessed the water, and I scooped it up with my bucket. "Thank you very much for the water you provide to the vestals and my father's kingdom."

I remember that day when my father and stepmother sent me to the Temple of Vesta on my way home. I was running away from someone in that vision, but my image was blurry. Still, I could hear the preteen voice of a boy calling my name.

This vision scared me a lot because I couldn't relate to boys my age or any age. After all, I was a vestal and the High Priest and my stepmother forced me to make a vow of chastity, and they said that they would punish me if I disobeyed that promise I didn't want to do that day five years ago; it was a death sentence by burial.

I still remember the smiles on their faces, especially my stepmother, who had done so much harm to me since my mother had been sent to the Elysian Fields by the soldiers in Clotilde's father's army.

When I got to the House of the Vestals, a palace with two levels and 50 rooms that the royal architects built around an atrium with a double pool in the Forum of the Kingdom of Diamonds. I headed to the kitchen where the High Priestess, Rhea Silvia, awaited me.

"Hail, welcome home, Sara," she told me. "You've arrived just in time for today's class."

"Hail and thank you very much, Rhea," I told her as I carried the bucket of water to the kitchen counter. "Well, this has been difficult for me. Could you please help me with this-huh?"

The high priestess approached me, saying, "Sure, give me that, Sara." She greeted me and helped me with the bucket and put it on top while I looked for another chair to sit on. Rhea looked at me and continued, "You have shown enthusiasm for the arts of cooking and baking since you have been in the Temple of Vesta, and I think it is about time you made the mola salsa..." when we were in front of the counter.

I was happy when she told me that because she was right. I loved to be in the kitchen even when I lived with my father and my brothers, cooking whatever I could think of.

"Are you serious?" I asked her, "Are you sure I can do it?

"Yes, I'm more than sure you're ready to do it," she told me.

I mixed the water, flour and salt and began to knead with the certainty that Rhea supported me. It took a few minutes of kneading so that I didn't feel the dough stick between my fingers, and I stretched it out with a roller when that dough was at the right consistency. Then I pretended I was making homemade bread, and I had a week's worth of mola salsa when I made the recipe.

I could tell there was a smile on Rhea's face as she approached me and said, "You did a great job. I'll help put it in the oven. You are to make all the temple meals from now on."

"Thank you very much for trusting me with that honour," I replied. "I promise I won't let you down."

"Very good," she told me. "Believe me, the priesthood has been very difficult for me, too, because I have stayed in this temple all my youth as it should be. That is why each vestal must find something we like to do to pass the time."

"I know, and I'm forever grateful for the opportunity," I told her.

I suddenly heard someone knock on the temple kitchen door, and I watched as Rhea opened it. It was my father, King Romulo Vargas of Diamonds.

the people of the kingdom who saw me every day, who were very few said that I looked a lot like him because of the colour of my skin and my hair but that I had the eyes of my deceased mother,

It had been a while since he came to see me, so I was delighted when I approached my father.

"Hail father, I would be honoured if you would enter the kitchen," I said as I bowed to my father.

"You know you shouldn't even use that formal tone with me, Sara," he told me as he smiled and touched my hair tenderly.

I noticed that he went to Rhea and said, "I've come to see how the princess is doing with her religious studies, Rhea."

"Of course, your majesty," Rhea said, pulling out a piece of papyrus and continuing, "Your daughter inherited the best of her mother. She is a respectful and noble child who could become a great vestal priestess. She has dedicated herself to the art of cooking and pastry. I have just told her she will be in charge of the kitchen for the vestals starting today."

I approached them and said, "The high priestess has asked me to make the mola salsa; it is almost ready, Father."

My father's radiant smile overjoyed me as he took a seat and called me to sit with him in his robe, just like when I was little. "You don't know how proud and happy you've made me feel," he told me, hugging me tight.

"Thank you very much, Father," I said as I hugged him anyway. "I miss you. How I want to come home with you."

My father released me from that hug and said, "I know you miss your brothers, my daughter. That is another reason I have come: to tell you they are fine. Francis has started his military training with Antonio, and you know how Clotilde takes care of Roger."

I smiled at my father when he told me that my brother and our best friend were about to fulfill a dream so longed for by both of them, and they were going to do the military Sacramentum. I always knew they wanted to be part of our imperial army to protect the kingdom from our enemies back then, and I would have liked to have been there with them.

"I don't know if I can go to the ceremony, but tell them that I wish them all the best for that day, Father," I told him. "I'm sorry I missed an important day for them."

"I will, my child," he replied. "Unfortunately, I must do some paperwork and meet with the Senate."

I gave my father a piece of the mola sauce before he left. "Will you not taste what I had done, Father?"

"Oh, daughter, I have so many things on my mind," he told me. "Of course, I'm going to try it-huh."

It took a moment, but my father put the mola salsa I had made in his mouth. My eyes shone, and I smiled when I saw that he enjoyed it, like when I lived at home with him and my brothers. "The mola salsa you have made has been very good, my daughter," he hugged me.

"Thank you, Father," I said, hugging him. "I'm glad you liked it."

With that, my father stood up and walked to the door. I looked at him and said, "You have to visit me again."

"Of course, I'll be coming more often-huh," he told me. "Don't forget that I love you, dear daughter."

"I love you just the same, Father," I said. "Goodbye, send my regards to my brothers."

"I sure will," he told me, gesturing goodbye.